Types of Disasters and Their Reason of Cause

 

Introduction

When beggars die there are no comets seen. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes”, said William Shakespeare in his famous play Julius Caesar.

A natural disaster refers to an unexpected event that causes great damage to life and property on the earth. These are quite harmful to the environment and also may cause devastation in the life of creatures present on the earth.

Thus, unusual happenings of nature portended something evil, for the rulers in the past. Even today in some parts of the country, people attribute nature’s fury to god’s will, to punish mankind for his sins.

It is indeed a paradox, that nature which bequeaths so much to mankind should turn its fury so ferociously, by unleashing earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, floods and droughts, which kill and maim thousands of people and damage property.

Science has shed enough light on why they occur

It is untenable to accept the explanations of the past, for the occurrence of the natural disasters. Man has after relentless effort, tried to understand why these calamities occur, and how they can be prevented.

Growing industrialization and unjustified exploitation of natural resources have brought our echo system to a verge of non-reversibility and imbalance. This has led to a thread from a set of natural hazards like pollution, global warming and ozone depletion on large on global scale.

The wealth of scientific information now available sheds light on why they occur. However we are yet to discover how some of these calamities can be predicted and prevented.

Types of disasters and their reason of cause

·         Earthquake

Earthquake refers to the shaking of the earth surface due to the tectonic movement of plates. An earthquake can occur anytime and cause great destruction to mankind.

Thus, we know that earthquakes are caused by movements of rock deep in the earth’s crust. The snapping of the rocky strata which is subjected to great stress, unleashes a large amount of energy, which makes the earth quiver leading to an earthquake.

The earthquake bring in its folds, colossal destruction to life and property. Since it occurs without any warning, it obliterates entire town and cities.

The earthquakes in the ocean causes tsunami, wherein huge tidal waves strike the coastal areas causing much destruction.

Other natural disasters like cyclones, landslides, floods and droughts, are equally devastating, and have wrecked-havoc on countries.

·         Landslides

Landslides are also caused due to the movement of the earth. In this, huge rocks and mountains move down a slope and cause great damage to natural and man-made property.

·         Avalanches

Avalanches are like landslides. But instead of rocks thousand tons of snow falls down the slope. Avalanches takes places when there is a large accumulation of snow on the mountains. Moreover, they can also occur from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

·         Tsunami

Tsunami is the production of very high waves in oceans and seas. Moreover, the displacement of the ground causes these high waves. A tsunami can cause floods if it occurs near shores.

Tsunami is unlike normal eaves that occur due to the wind. But tsunami is waves that occur by ground displacement. Thus, earthquakes are the main causes of tsunamis.

·         Floods

Floods are an annual phenomenon in the country, and some districts are known to be prone to it, especially during the monsoon months.

In this period, rivers overflow their banks, submerging huge tracts of land under water, causing great loss to life and property.

·         Droughts

While the abundance of rain causes floods, its absence caused droughts, leading to famine and consequently death due to starvation and diseases.

Man-made causes like pollution and global warming

Man has himself to blame for most of these natural disasters. The mindless deforestation and denudation of green cover, has played havoc with nature.

This coupled with the enormous position of the environment caused by releasing deadly gases and chemicals, has irreparably damaged the protective ozone layer of the ionosphere.

This has resulted in global warming, which is adversely affecting the climate and playing havoc with nature.

Conclusion:

Immediate need to take measure with disaster management and ecological balance

Since some of them are man-made natural disasters, there is immediate need to take measures to maintain the ecological balance of the nature.

This can be done by reducing the pollution in the environment, by reducing dependence on fossil fuels. There is also need for proper management of or water and food resources to face ravages caused by floods and droughts.

We as a human being must also focus on disaster management. Disaster management refers to the efficient management of resources and responsibilities that will help in lessening the impact of the disaster. It involves a well-planned plan of action so we can make effective efforts to reduce the dangers caused by the disaster to a minimum.

Proper disaster management can be done when we make the citizens aware of the precautionary measures to take when they face emergency situations. For instance, everyone must know we should hide under a bed or table whenever there is an earthquake.

If all the citizens learn the basic ways to save themselves and if the government takes more responsive measures, we can surely save a lot of life and vegetation.

We have however no clues for preventing earthquake and cyclone. At best we can only device ways of minimizing the loss, by trying to predict them, through geological and meteorological studies.

                                                                

Written by - Adarsh Rai