There is nothing better than humor to try to deal with adversity. That is why many jokes have been made about the series of catastrophic misfortunes that caused 2020, 2021 and 2022. Pandemic, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, fires… Almost no typical example of catastrophes and natural disasters has happened. We might think that by going through a few bad years, we attach more importance to everything, but in reality this time is not so different from the previous ones. However, according to a report recently released by the United Nations, there have been many disasters in recent years. In addition, you will not surprise anyone, most guilt person.
It is for this reason that if we do not change our course of action, the situation will getting worse. There is a lot of talk about pollution, climate change or global warming, and sometimes we tend to view the catastrophes they entail as something far away, but they are already here and they have many more blows to come.
Logically, there are catastrophes that cannot be avoided and that have little to do with human activity. These are, for example, cases of earthquakes. Therefore, there have always been disasters. However, if we add to those that usually occur, those that we called, the numbers will be devastating. According to the report, between 1970 and 2000 90 to 100 accidents per year. However, between 2001 and 2020, this annual average increased. up to 350-500. And that 2021 and 2022 are not taken into account.
What disasters are covered in the report?
Speaking of catastrophes, we can refer to anything from a great flood to a war. However, not everything was taken into account in the preparation of this report.
In particular, the United Nations considered catastrophes those disasters biological, geophysical and climatic. This includes from pandemics and epidemics to hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. Only those who require national or international assistanceso that, for example, small local floods are not taken into account.
In preparing the report, disasters of biological, geophysical or climatic origin were taken into account.
Some of these disasters are directly related to human activities. For example, he global warmingarising, among other things, from the release greenhouse gases, can cause more extreme weather events. This is also the reason for the sharp increase in the number of forest fires.
However, others are related to human activity in a different way. rather indirect. For example, these disasters are considered more serious when they involve loss of life or significant material loss, which is happening more and more often because there are more habitable hazard zones. Both for this reason and because of the extreme levels to which some disasters have reached, the report indicates that more people have died in disasters in the last five years than in the previous five years.
What we can do?
We are already seeing the effects of this increase in disasters, but it has only just begun. According to the UN, if adequate measures are not taken in 2030 the situation could be much more serious. For example, natural disasters associated with very high temperatures, such as heat waves or fires, could triple compared to 2001. To all this, the authors of the report propose to call on the relevant authorities to act through various measures.
First of all, we must “measure what we value.” That is, you need to do something like overhaul financial systems take into account the real cost of risk and tailor national tax planning and financing to account for risk and uncertainty.
Measures to combat climate change must be combined with actions to perceive and avoid risks.
On the other hand, it is recommended that “systems be designed taking into account how the human mind makes decisions about risk.” This includes recognizing that people different perceptions and preconceptions about risk which may influence the actions taken. And also recognize that risk analytics is a good tool, but not a panacea. This is something we have learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the patterns of possible evolution of the disease have been very uneven.
Finally, it is necessary to “reconfigure the management system and the financial system” through measures how to assess risk from different disciplinesenhance participation, transparency and civil dialogue in risk decision-making and improve multi-level risk management.
All this is aimed at analyzing the risks of possible disasters and taking action before it is too late. But, of course, these are measures that must join those we already know to prevent further climate change and global warming. Because if that happens, no matter how much we foresee the risks, the situation will continue to get more and more serious, and this trilogy of 2020, 2021 and 2022 could become a saga that, without a doubt, no one wants to live.
Source: Hiper Textual
