The Causes Of Natural Disasters Affected Latin America

A natural disaster has the capability to cause large scale damage and destruction to an area. Seismic events have been known to alter landscapes and affect the livelihoods, health and development of communities. No two earthquake events are the same and the level of threat posed by an earthquake can vary due to both the human and physical factors of an area. The 2010 magnitude - 7.0 earthquake that occurred in Haiti is an example of where a natural disaster caused a previously vulnerable area to suffer tremendous loss and debilitating socio-economic impacts, to an already poverty-stricken nation.

55). This is because things like a small flood would effect croplands differently than an urban center. A crop my actually benefit from silt deposits but the New York Stock Exchange would not. However, when disasters increase in scale they almost always have a significant impact on the economy (World Bank & United Nations, 2010, p. 55). Unfortunately, even though these impacts may be short-term there are third order effects on the economy. After Hurricane Katrina many areas were completely abandoned but many more were bought by developers pushing out the lower income populations, completely changing the local economy. This also highlights the different effect that disasters have on different demographics. As an example, the economies of developing countries are effected more by disasters then those of developed nations (World Bank & United Nations, 2010, p. 56). Although this may be because of population density or lack of infrastructure, it shows that demographics as well as the disaster itself have influence over the impact on local economy and

natural disasters). Gallup et al. (2003, pp.41, 46) have estimated that natural disasters in Latin America over the last 30 years have cost up to $3.3 billion and in extreme disasters costs can reach 10 per cent of a country’s GDP. This, coupled with the fact that they suffer regularly from natural disasters due to their location, means that they find it harder to recover from them. The destruction of crops causes vast economic loss which cannot be regained as farmers rely on monoculture. Furthermore, many buildings in developing countries are often built from weak materials which causes mass destruction and costly re-construction which these countries cannot afford.

Poverty was an economic factor that greatly influenced how the earthquake affected the population. In Haiti, 80% of the population was under the poverty line. ⅔ of Labor force employees relied on agriculture and due to high unemployment levels, many did not have a job and the population owned an average of under $2 a day. During the earthquake, Haiti’s agricultural industries were destroyed, leaving most of the county unemployed and unable to produce its main exports. This further exacerbated the problem of poverty and left the population without resources, food and water.

Completely out of human control, natural disasters take their toll on people by destroying properties and crops, as well as killing people. There have been many tornadoes in the past, because of these events there are now better warning systems and rebuilding programs. After hurricanes, many people open up their homes for people in need. There are also many large-scale refugee centers that help people that have lost everything due to a hurricane. Adversity brings out a kindness and generosity that is not always present until a storm wakes people up to the needs of others. A man-made storm can also bring an awaking to American society.

While we do not have historical record of all of the natural hazards that have impacted the United States, we do know that for multitudes of years, the United States has been hit by many natural hazards – hurricane, tornado, drought, wildfire, flood and earthquake, to name a few. As each of these natural hazards occur, multiple issues arise – relative to the core components of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Yet, even with prior knowledge from years past and the destructive events that have occurred, we as a nation continue to struggle with natural hazards that more often than not become natural disasters. For too long it seems as if we have settled in to a rhythm of responding, attempting to recover, rebuilding and then repeating the cycle as another natural hazard strikes.

In the Article, “Agriculture in the Dominican Republic: Highly Vulnerable, Mostly uninsured, on Worldbank.org. Many countries are vulnerable to natural disaster, and the country is defenseless against price issues, and remains uninsured against major shocks. “Agricultural Risk Management in the Caribbean”, an article reported by worldbank.org, includes the many issues these agricultural workers have to face. In the past 20 years, these workers have spent 9% of their gross domestic product dealing with the effects of weather hazards (Worldbank.org). As a consequence due to these weather hazards, the agricultural sector has been inactive. Farmers and the government have to accept the costs of weather hazards and price fluctuations (Worldbank.org). These weather hazards and price fluctuations have led to lower income levels, increased poverty, reduced economic growth, and competitiveness. The small farmers are the most affected, according to Worldbank.org. Agricultural activity in the Dominican Republic is centered on two crops, which is sugar cane and rice. These two crops alone make up for 11% of gross domestic product, and make up 15% of employment in the country. Agriculture is very important in the Dominican Republic, so the reduction of agriculture’s vulnerability to natural disasters is key (Worldbank.org). Natural disasters have become a major problem for the country’s finances. About

Tropical storms formed 5-30 degrees north of the equator, so if there is a largely populated area or economic centre around this latitude, in an area vulnerable to hurricanes, the impact will be increased in comparison to the tropical storm running its course over unpopulated islands or the ocean. This can be seen when looking at Hurricane Sandy, a tropical storm of 2012 and its impact on Cuba. Cuba was located in the Hurricane’s path and so obviously the Hurricane caused damage. However, because an area of considerable economic value to the country, Cuba’s Santiago de Cuba, was in located in the aforementioned storm path and damaged significantly, for example

Tropical storms are defined as low pressure systems that form over tropical seas and can devastate areas of human settlements with hurricane force winds and floods. The severity of these impacts varies greatly depending on a countries development levels and is attributable to numerous factors such as: infrastructure, job structure, the provision of service, prediction technology and how much aid is received. Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone are two examples of tropical storms that affected areas drastically apart in economic development.

Natural disasters cause a lot of damage to the economies in Latin America when they happen. The damage can last for months, years or even decades. Natural disasters are hard for everyone, but it is even harder for Latin American countries to recover

People have a home but once the home is destroyed, there is no roof to stay under. Everything such as money and belongings will be all gone meaning everyone will have to start over. People would become greedy and criminal like since no one has anything left. If people see things that are valuable, people will fight and argue to win that valuable thing causing war leading to death. Everyone will starve because of hunger. No one will have the utensils and time to cook. If there were things to cook with, there will be no crops or animals left to cook/eat. In conclusion, natural disasters have a huge effect to the environment and people. War will start since everything would be extremely valuable, everyone will fight to get what they need and want.

The El Nino Southern Oscillation, or simply El Nino, has hit Ecuador with devastating effect a number of times over the past t we nty-five years. The 1982-83 El Nino cause over $650 million in damage, and was the cause of 600 deaths, wreaking havoc on Ecuador ’s agricultural industries especially. Most recently, the El Nino of 1997-98 battered Ecuador, causing $2.65 billion worth of damage. This El Nino is considered to be one of the biggest ever, and the floods and torrential downpours that struck Ecuador again crippled the agricultural industries, including the important banana industry. In addition, parts of the SOTE pipeline we re damaged, and along with a global depression in oil prices Ecuador ’s economy was thrown into a tailspin.

The disasters cause poverty because these countries are often weak financially and cannot afford to restore their country after extensive damage. Therefore due to lack of resources the situation gets worse. It affects their inhabitant's lives causing a lack of production leading to being unable to provide for citizens. In turn leading to poverty, as they cannot even provide substances to trade and lose money. Other factors that affect the lives of citizens are lack of clean water and standard education.

Natural disasters may be defined as natural catastrophes which cause great damage by disrupting the functioning of a society thus rendering the country incapable of coping through using its own resources as there is a need for outsider assistance in order to effectively preserve lives and the environment. Conversely, Natural hazards are natural phenomena that are potential threats to people within a society, structures or economic assets and may cause disaster. Natural disasters are inevitable and ubiquitous worldwide. Within the Caribbean, they are chiefly present in the forms of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and volcanoes. The great damages caused by natural disasters may be divided into three categories: social, economic

This paper will discuss the differences between two different natural and man-made disasters. The disasters that will be discussed are Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Additionally, this paper will look into the specifics of what constitutes a natural and man-made disaster. Specifically, this paper will look into each disaster to include the events surrounding them; the risks; and the assessments. Furthermore, this paper will look at some of the details of each disaster and why there was so much devastation. Finally, this paper will look at a few similarities, but mainly the differences between the two, and how the effects of each still linger today.