Climate Change and Natural Disasters Around the World (The Past, Present and Future)
By Sarah Logan
The following article appeared in the October 2019 edition of The Campus.
During my middle school years, I harbored a fascination with the apocalypse. One morning, before the start of the school day, I sat and watched a documentary describing the proposed events that would happen on December 21st, 2012. The Mayan calendar had predicted that the world would end on that day. I listened with fear, worrying about what the future might bring.
Just like thatmiddle schooler, I still think about the future of our planet and anticipatethe worst. However, in our modern world, the prospect of an apocalypse is morerealistic. Planet Earth is pummeled with natural disasters on an annual basis.Along with our everyday stressors, these natural disasters can cause us toworry about the loss of our home and even our loved ones. Thus, what is ourhistory of natural disasters and climate change? And how does this change thestate of our planet today?
The Past
On August 25th,2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the southeast coast of Florida. Thestorm, which lasted about five days, disrupted the lives of many Americans.Tragically, many individuals died due to the intensity of the storm. NewOrleans’s levees failed and water gushed into neighborhoods, streets, andbuildings, which left many homes destroyed by the heavy rainfall and flooding. Heavywinds also caused a tremendous amount of damage. Families and the people of NewOrleans were left homeless and displaced.
It’s difficult toimagine that a storm could exact this amount of damage and death. According tothe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hurricane Katrina caused$161 billion in damage, ranking it as one of the top five costliest U.S.hurricanes on record. According to the National Weather Service, HurricaneKatrina killed 1,833 individuals.
For those in itspath and who survived, Hurricane Katrina unleashed a tremendous effect uponresidents’ mental and physical health. Those who were displaced had a hard timefinding health care. The Center for American Progress states that more than 40%of evacuees, due to their pre-existing medical conditions, needed to takeprescription drugs during the aftermath of the storm. However, one-third ofthose individuals had to go without their necessary medications.
The effects ofpowerful storms like Katrina extend beyond physical health problems. Inaddition to fatalities, injuries, and lack of access to health care andmedications for pre-existing conditions, many survivors reported an increase inmental health issues. According to a 2007 survey of FEMA trailer residents in Mississippi,more than 70% of residents reported symptoms of depression and 60% reportedsigns of major depression.
More recently, inearly November of 2018, a fire, known as Camp Fire, ravaged parts of NorthernCalifornia. According to the Washington Post, it killed at least 85 people anddestroyed 14,000 residences in California. Many residents were left withouttheir beloved homes for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Displaced peopleboarded in shelters, hotels, and even camped outside due to the wildfires.
Camp Fire was2018’s costliest natural disaster. Kimberly Amadeo, a writer for The Balance, claimed that the firecaused $16.5 billion in damages, burning 153,336 acres of land and 18,733buildings. California’s Bay Area Air Quality Management District recorded 13days of particulate pollution above 151 micrograms per cubic meter on November20th, 2018. Due to this, many people were rushed to the emergencyroom directly after the fire because of bad air quality.
The Present
Recently, I haddinner with my three roommates. We enjoyed pizza from one of the local shopsand celebrated the start of the new school year. While we talked about oursummer and our goals for the upcoming academic semester, a fire raged thousandsof miles away in the Amazon rainforest. Our conversation soon focused on thistopic. The rainforest did not burn due to a natural disaster, but at the handsof humans. Evidently, we were creating our own apocalypse.
The BrazilianNational Institute for Space Research has detected more than 72,000 fires inthe Amazon rainforest since January of 2019. Many of these fires wereintentionally set to ignite deforestation. After deforestation, farmers use theland to plant crops. It may seem like a good idea, however, the destruction ofthis natural habitat affects everything - plants, animals, humans, even us hereat The City College of New York (CCNY).
The demise of theAmazon rainforest through intentional fire is a disaster that has many CCNYstudents worried. This disaster is a reminder that the actions we take todaycan negatively impact out future. The younger generation will bear the brunt ofthe mental and physical health issues brought about by these disasters whetherthey are near or far.
Rachel Mathew, ajunior studying vocal jazz and minoring in Jewish studies, explained theramifications of the Amazon’s destruction on a personal level. “The rainforestis the Earth’s lungs,” she said. “I am saddened by this realization. Withoutthe rainforest, we won’t have access to clean air. We won’t be able tobreathe.” The fires emit large amounts of carbon monoxide in the South Americaregion.
After hearing thisnews, an anonymous source stated that they became terribly anxious.“Itbecame hard to breathe once I really started to think about the situation. Itfelt as if I was feeling the effects of the fire even though I wasn’tphysically there,” the source said.
Along with thewildlife that make their home in the Amazon rainforest, the indigenous people,who depend on a variety of the rainforest’s resources, are experiencing tragedyof their own. In a BBC video, Handech Wakana Mura, an indigenous leader of theMura tribe, states that “with each passing day we see deforestation, invasions,and logging. We feel the climate changing.”
With the increasein violent hurricanes and the deforestation of land, the world is, without adoubt, undergoing a change in climate.
The Future
On July 17th,2019, NASA recorded a measurement of 411 ppm, or 411 parts per million ofcarbon dioxide (CO2). This greenhouse gas traps heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.It is usually released due to human activity, and deforestation is the leadingcause. Rising temperatures fuel hurricanes. As temperatures heat up and theclimate changes, NASA notes that there will be an increase in the intensity,frequency, and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes. We have set ourselves upfor cycles of tragedy and disaster, leading to mass destruction and physicaland emotional pain for many around the globe.
We can, however,take action now to improve our future. Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedishactivist, has been fighting for a solution to climate change for severalyears. She organized a strike outsidethe Parliament building in Stockholm and refuses to travel by plane because ofits negative effect on the environment. The fight continued right here in NewYork City on Friday, September 20th, where Thunberg and over 50,000people gathered in Battery Park to demand action. As the biggest climate strikethe world has ever seen, the majority of protestors were students, who skippedschool to attend this crucial event. They are the future of this fight and itis up to everyone else to join them in finally sparking change in our doomingplanet. They are doing the work that generations before have ignored and it isthe world’s turn to listen and support. Flora Lennihan, a sophomore studyingfilm and anthropology believes that the media could have a positive affect ifthey changed their reporting style, she states, “I think the media should takemore of an informative and educational approach by providing facts about howclimate change affects the frequency of storms and ways that we can try toprevent them.”.
Becoming aware ofthe weather events and disasters around us, near and far, enables us to betterunderstand the risks of climate change and the resulting natural disasters.Leading climate scientists claim we are partly responsible for weather-relateddisasters and without this understanding and acceptance, we could be in for ableak future. The possibility of an apocalypse does not seem so irrational.
