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Natural disasters and human incompetence

The term “disaster” refers to the enormous human and material losses caused by phenomena such as earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, floods, deforestation, environmental contamination, etc. Despite the fact that nature is traditionally considered to be the main cause of these disasters and that 9 out of 10 are related to climate, the Reconsidering disasters report drawn up by Oxfam International states that, on numerous occasions, it is human beings that turn an extreme natural phenomenon into a humanitarian catastrophe with unlimited proportions. Some governments’ passivity, poor management and unfortunate decisions often just make the problem worse.

Over the last two decades there have been four times as many climate-related catastrophes, rising from an average of 120 a year at the start of the 1980s to around 500 in the present day. The number of people affected, which has also logically increased, has lead to what are known as forced population migrations, meaning people displaced as a consequence of adverse climate-related phenomena. They have had to abandon their homes and emigrate to other areas searching for an alternative life.

All the information leads us to believe that this type of migration, for environmental and climatic reasons, will soon exceed the countries’ current capacity and economic resources, and will become one of the main political problems of this century. Floods, fires, droughts and the rising sea level will oblige millions of people to move to the most habitable areas of the planet. However, these new "refugees," already more numerous than war refugees, are still not included among International Aid targets.

There is currently an open debate on awarding the term “refugee” to people who have been forced to leave their homes by natural disasters. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) defines refugees as “people who have been forced to temporarily or permanently abandon their surroundings as a consequence of serious deterioration of these surroundings (due to natural or human causes) seriously affecting their survival and/or quality of life." Deteriorating surroundings implies “any physical, chemical and/or biological change in the ecosystem which makes it temporarily or permanently inappropriate to be lived in."

International legislation relating to refugees has existed for fifty years and it was written as the result of the large number of displaced citizens caused by World War II. Nowadays, however, the population is fleeing their homes for other reasons as well which have nothing to do with war or violence and which are not officially recognised. This implies that, on many occasions, environmental refugees do not receive the required material or legal support.

Although the forecasts for future population migrations due to climate change are varied, it seems that the calculation made by the Oxford University lecturer, Norman Myers, is the most widely accepted. According to his theory, by 2050 the current population of environmental refugees will have multiplied by ten. UNEP states that in Africa alone there could be 50 million environmental refugees in 2060 and it is calculated that, in the 2080s, millions of people will suffer annual floods, due to rising sea levels. Furthermore, the main consequences of massive migration will be the increase in humanitarian crises, acceleration of urbanisation and stagnation or retreat of development in many countries.

Climate change is also strongly related to poverty. Its negative impacts affect countries with the least resources to the greatest extent due to their geographic situation and the impossibility of forecasting, detecting and evaluating climate-related risks. Between 2000 and 2004 this type of disaster affected around 262 million people, of which 98% belonged to developing countries. For reference purposes, the annual budget in France for metrological issues is 388 million dollars, compared to 2 million every year in Ethiopia.

All too often, the international community and many governments have been characterised by their incapability and/or lack of willingness to provide preventive solutions to catastrophes or natural disasters and by their inefficacy when tackling crises caused by phenomena linked to nature or climate change.

One of the most recent cases was Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (United States). The authorities’ lack of foresight and their ineptitude to tackle and manage the situation afterwards turned a natural event into an unprecedented humanitarian and political catastrophe, which generated a feeling of abandonment and total lack of trust in the Bush Administration from part of the North American population, and aroused numerous international criticism. It is estimated that Katrina caused material damage totalling 75,000 million dollars and claimed the lives of 1836 people.

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