write a letter to the editor of an English daily expressing your concern over natural disaster caused by global warming
Answers
Natural Disasters
A natural disaster is defined by the UN as: “the consequences of events triggered by natural hazards that overwhelm local response capacity and seriously affect the social and economic development of a region.” In other words, if an earthquake takes place on an uninhabited island and no one is affected, it is not a natural disaster. In order to be a disaster, people must be affected. Similarly, if flooding takes place in an area where there is adequate preparation, it probably isn’t a natural disaster. If a similar level of flooding, however, takes place in an area where there isn’t preparation and crops are ruined and people are forced to abandon their homes, it then can be a natural disaster. Similarly, heavy rainfalls occur in many parts of the world. Normally, they are not natural disasters, but when the rainfall is heavier than usual and when precautions have not been taken, a natural disaster can result. The rainfall itself is not the disaster, but rather the consequences of the rainfall.
There are two additional aspects of natural disasters that need to be explored before engaging in discussion of human rights and natural disasters.
First, just how ‘natural’ are ‘natural disasters?’ The distinction if often made between natural disasters – such as flooding – and man-made disasters, such as an oil spill or chemical accident. But often the consequences of natural disasters are worse because of human involvement. To use two examples from my own country: in the 1930s, terrible dust storms in the middle of the United States devastated the lives of inhabitants. For year after year, there was little rainfall, and the topsoil of a major area of the country simply blew away, leaving a swathe of desert. While the lack of rainfall was a natural phenomenon, the fact that a period of intense settlement had converted enormous grasslands into wheat fields and that farmers had plowed up the earth, exposing the soil to the wind was directly responsible for the disaster. If the farmers hadn’t settled in the region, if they hadn’t plowed up the ground, there would not have been a natural disaster. [1] A second more recent example is Hurricane Katrina which displaced over a million people in New Orleans and the Gulf coast in 2005. While the hurricane was a natural phenomenon, the fact that the Louisiana wetlands had been destroyed by developers in past decades eliminated a natural barrier for the hurricane. Without the wetlands, the Hurricane moved in full force to populated areas, thus causing the disaster. In other words, human actions frequently turn natural weather events into disaster. On this continent, there are many stories of drought which led to famine and disaster, e.g. Ethiopia in 1984-85, where the famine was a least partly the result of government policies. In fact, Amartya Sen has argued that democracies never experience famine because the political pressures force governments to take actions to prevent droughts or other calamities that would otherwise lead to famine.[2]
A second aspect of natural disasters concerns the speed at which they occur. A rapid-onset disaster includes earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes, cyclones, etc. Slow-onset disasters, particularly droughts, develop over a period of time. This gives more time for precautions to be undertaken and for governments and the international community to mitigate the effects of a change in climate. In Southern Africa in 1992 where terrible drought occurred, famine was averted because of policies undertaken by governments in the region and by the international community.
It is generally easier to mobilize international support for sudden-onset disasters; in disasters with high media coverage, there is usually an outpouring of support which is not usually manifest for slow-onset disasters. The outpouring of support for the victims of the 2004 tsunamis, for example, dwarfed the response to victims of flooding in Bangladesh earlier in the year.
Answer:
New Delhi
14th August, 2020
To
The Editor,
The Times of India,
New Delhi.
Subject: Global Warming Consequences and Solutions
Sir,
Through the columns of your esteemed daily newspaper, I wish to highlight the danger and solutions to climate change and global warming.
Global warming is the phenomenon of the increase in the temperature of the atmosphere due to the presence of excessive green house gases. Global warming will results in melting of the polar ice caps and raise in the ocean level which will submerge islands and coastal lands. Global warming is a reality but there are remedies too.
Global warming would cause unpredictable rainfall. A sudden flash flood will be followed by a period of drought. This will cause scarcity of drinking water and irrigation for cultivation leading to worldwide food scarcity.
Planting more trees will reduce the amount of the harmful carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere and reduce global warming. We need to use alternative energy instead of burning of fossil fuels like coal and petroleum products. Burning of fossil fuels increase global warming and also deplete the ozone layer which protects us from the harmful effects of UV rays of the Sun.
Proper treatment of industrial waste before they are dumped and using renewable energy, electric, hydro and solar energy will help us to reduce the danger of global warming. Urgent steps must be taken to reduce exhaust emissions from motor vehicles, power plants, factories and industries. Global warming needs urgent global actions to save and preserve life on Earth.
Yours sincerely,
R. MEENAKSHI
Mayur Vihar, New Delhi