Decision Makers Summary

Examine the key messages from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s governing board, and evaluate how these points affect you now and will affect you and your children in the future.

For example, in Canada, the number of human deaths has been small in comparison to those that have occurred in developing nations as a result of extreme events of similar magnitude and intensity. Nevertheless, there have been a number of disasters that have caused enormous disruption and/or damage, including the 1998 Ice Storm, the Prairie droughts of the 1930s, 1980, 1987 and 1989, the Red River flood of 1997, the British Columbia forest fires of 2004, the Saguenay flood of 1997, Hurricanes Hazel (1954) and Juan (2004), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS, 2003) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (Haque, C.E and Etkin, D 2007).

With the current changes in weather patterns, strange climatic conditions and other uncontrollable natural disasters, there has been a lot of attention directed towards the mitigation of the negative effects such natural disasters can have on man and the society at large.

Natural disasters do occur and it for beneficial reasons that people are better prepared for such tragedies. It is one thing to hear that a devastation has occurred, but it is better put into perspective when the occurrences are seen. If the media outlet and local people did not provide images and videos of Hurricane Katrina, there would not have been as much recovery that is still progressing today.

“We’ve never seen anything like this” is the word increasingly heard in every part of the world in the wake of natural disasters. Certainly, strong natural disasters have increased nearly four times over the past four decades. There have been observed 70% increase in damage by floods and streams. According to recent UN report, Economic losses from disasters since 2000 are in range of $2.5 trillion, almost 50% higher than previous international estimates. The economic losses from disaster sometimes occur out of control and require partnership with private sector. The losses from earthquake and cyclonic wind damage are expected to be about $180 billion per year throughout this century- and this figure doesn’t include damage from floods, rockslides,

In the past decade alone, a person living in Asia-Pacific was twice as likely to be affected by a natural disaster as a person living in Africa, almost six times as likely as someone from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 30 times more likely to suffer from a disaster than someone living in North America or Europe (ESCAP: 2013). If history is any indicator of what the future has in store, the area will continue to suffer natural disasters at a pace that far surpasses that of anywhere else in the world. The strategic, economic and humanitarian impact of such disasters are devastating and improving our ability to respond and prevent such massive loss of life and destruction is something that is well worth continued effort. The region has certainly come a long way in improving its capabilities, but in the way ahead we must continue to train and plan together to reduce the impact of future inevitable

Select and briefly describe at least three key environmental issues (overpopulation, food depletion, ocean pollution, climate change, sea level rise, mass extinction, etc.) discussed in this week’s readings. Include specific information, such as statistics and quotations, from at least two of the readings in your description. Given this information, is environmental alarmism justified, in your view?

Truly, human beings are left powerless to control the detrimental effects that Mother Nature has on their lives when a natural disaster hits.

Grief and loss, that is what you are commonly left feeling after a natural disaster. Whether you lost a family member, friend, pet, or your home, you could be left feeling this way. There is no real way to stop a natural disaster, but for your own well being it is best to get out of the way to avoid any sort of lose to you or your family. Natural disasters kill around 68,000 people every year, whether it's Tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, or floods. These storms also affect millions more due to the destruction of their homes or belongings.

From the year 2000 to 2012, 1.7 billion dollars in damage was spent only on natural disasters. Natural disasters have been around since the dawn of time. They have always been destructive and deadly. Whether it’s hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, landslides, or avalanches, they are all a threat to humanity. Natural disasters have always been a worldwide issue, causing destruction and despair to many.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s Summary for Decision-Makers brought to light the fact that the rate of species extinction, over time, has increased at an alarming rate. This is distressing because species extinction means loss of biodiversity: a measure of a healthy environment. There are five main drivers, that are interconnected, that influence biodiversity loss and species extinction. While all five are interconnected they are strongly related to one in particular. That driver is human population size. The other four drivers are habitat destruction, overexploitation of resources, pollution, and the introduction of alien species. Biodiversity loss and species extinction, and the healthiness of the environment, are all influenced by

Rising temperatures and sea levels along with the growing amount of croplands that are becoming useless put our environment into unfavorable positions with bleak projected futures.

During the past two decades, natural disasters have killed millions of people, adversely affected the lives of at least billion more people, and resulted in substantial economic damages (Watson, Gayer, & Connolly, 2007).

Hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, floods IN ADDITION TO fire almost all wreak havoc at lives, your current landscape IN ADDITION TO destroy billions involving money with Private property every year.

“Natural disasters have killed more than 600,000 people and left behind trillions of dollars in damages in the last two decades, the United Nations said Monday.” (Chan) Extreme weather has caused millions of casualties and extreme damages over the years, but lately there has been an increase in severe weather events. This is causing problems in the US, with the amount of tornadoes rising in tornado alley “Tennessee experienced a 67 percent increase in tornado activity in 1983-2013 compared to the 1954-1983 time period. Oklahoma experienced a nearly 35 percent decrease in tornadoes in 1983-2013 compared to 1954-1983.”