9 out of 10 Distasters Recorded Are Climate-Related

Gilles Cnockaert

04/12/2008 10:31 am

While many view climate change as a future threat, humanitarians are seeing its impact now. In the last 20 years, the number of recorded disasters has doubled from about 200 to more than 400 per year. Disasters caused by floods are more frequent (from about 50 in 1985 to more than 200 in 2005) and damage larger areas than they did twenty years ago.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today launched yesterday a campaign to raise awareness of the humanitarian implications of climate change and to call for improved disaster preparedness and response measures in countries that suffer most from extreme weather events.

From 1988-2007, over 75 percent of all disaster events were climate-related, and accounted for 45 percent of deaths and 80 percent of the economic losses caused by natural hazards. In 2007, OCHA issued an unprecedented 15 funding appeals for sudden natural disasters, five more than the previous annual record – all but one resulted from climatic events.

Climate change is not some futuristic scenario, it’s happening today, and millions of people are already suffering the consequences.

John Holmes

The United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, said: “Improving our ability to respond effectively to increasing and increasingly extreme climatic events is now a priority part of our business. This calls for a systemic shift of attention, resources and expertise to improve disaster preparedness,” Mr. Holmes added.

Last year’s devastating floods in sub-Saharan Africa and China, the heat waves in South-Eastern Europe, droughts in Eastern and Southern Africa and massive Caribbean hurricanes all serve as a “curtain raiser on the future,” he added.

Nine out of 10 disasters recorded are climate-related, while the number of disasters has doubled to more than 400 annually over the past two decades. During the course of the next 20 years, it s expected that the intensity, frequency, duration and extent of weather-related hazards will rise around the world.

Better disaster risk reduction, preparedness and response will curtail much of the loss and suffering resulting from such hazards.

According to a press release issued today by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), investing in risk reduction can curb the amount of money needed to respond to emergencies once they have occurred.

For example, China averted losses of some $12 billion as a result of the just over $3 billion it spent on flood control between 1960 and 2000.

Source : OCHA, UN News Centre

Individuals CAN prevent Global Warming

JER0ME

Thursday 12 March 2009 10:45:08 am

I am not completely convinced CO2 has anything to do with Global Warming. That notwithstanding, I am certain that reducing our reliance on fossil fuels is both a good idea and necessary, for a large number of obvious reasons.
The good news is that we can all make a difference. It goes way beyond buying a few (polluting) low energy light bulbs, and will have a real impact if even half of those concerned about Global Warming follow the proposals. The beauty is that even if only half do this, it makes no difference what the rest do! Renewable energy will become cheaper than fossil fuels with enough investment in the technology, and everyone will move over naturally!
Firstly, buy renewable energy.
As far as I am aware, you have the choice to buy renewable electricity in all developed countries. If you cannot now, you should campaign for that inalienable right immediately. Currently our own household buys 25% of our electricity as renewable, costing us about US$33 extra per year. 100% would cost US$183)*.
Some argue that if millions of householders (and industries, I would hope) buy renewable energy, there will not be enough. If you do not buy it, there will NEVER be enough. If you do, the money will be used to INVEST in infrastructure for future renewable energy, so making the expense just as effective.
Merely by choosing to buy this, you are immediately and directly investing in the renewable energy industry, and sending a powerful and undeniable message to those who matter, the people who actually generate electricity, not environmentalists or politicians who may have different agenda.
Secondly, stop investing in 'Big Oil' and 'Big Coal'.
It comes as a shock to many ordinary citizens to be told that the huge greedy corporations actually make money for THEM, not for some faceless consortium. Sure, corporate flunkies may make millions of dollars, but WE, as investors, make billions, and even trillions. Their huge payouts and massive junkets are insignificant compared to the profits the companies make for their investors.
You may well think that you do not invest in these companies, but if you have a pension or investment fund, you almost certainly do. These funds will, quite obviously, be invested in the very companies that make the most profits and returns for their investors. All these corporations are doing is actually acting effectively YOUR instruction, ie to get the best possible return. If WE stop investing in them, they fail, and will be forced to change their practices to survive in a capitalist environment.
The answer is to choose ethical investments (there may be different names). Talk to your financial adviser and make the switch now. ONLY YOU control your investments. Make the choice and stop letting others do it for you.
The message is that YOU control the future of energy production with your wallets. The bad news is that it will cost, but nothing the environmentalists or governments will ever do about this issue will cost you less than this, and most of what they want to do will take control away from you and waste most of your expenditure in bureaucratic bungling and misguided foolishness, in my opinion. This simple two-step approach has all the potential to work and with no complex side effects that I can see immediately. It has a direct and immediate effect.
It is so rare that we are able to do something so straightforward in this complex world. If Global Warming concerns you, I urge you to put your money where your mouth is, and make an immediate difference TODAY, before the power is taken away from you.
* Based on a usage of 5,000 kWh of electricity.
Source: http://www.originenergy.com.au/1142/Green-energy-FAQs#extracost
http://www.carbonclimate.info/2009/03/individuals-can-prevent-global-warming.html