Human activity is contributing to an increasing number of disasters, with 350 and 500 medium-sized or large disasters a year occurring globally in the past two decades and more frequent events expected, a UN report has shown.
The number of disasters — many of them weather-related, such as fires and floods, but also other hazards such as pandemics or chemical accidents — could reach 560 a year, or 1.5 a day, by 2030, putting millions of lives in danger, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said in its global assessment report.
Climate change is causing more extreme weather events, it said, and added that humans have made decisions which are too narrow in focus and have been over-optimistic about the risk of potential disasters, leaving them unprepared.
The impact of disasters has also been heightened by growing populations in areas more prone to natural catastrophes, the report said.
“The world needs to do more to incorporate disaster risk in how we live, build and invest, which is setting humanity on a spiral of self-destruction,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J Mohammed, who presented the report at UN headquarters in New York.
“We must turn our collective complacency to action.”
Disasters disproportionately affect developing countries, which lose an average 1 per cent of GDP a year due to them, compared to 0.1-0.3 per cent in developed countries, the report said.
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1. An enormous plume of ash rises from the Cleveland Volcano on May 23, 2006. The image was captured from the International Space Station by astronaut Jeff Williams. The ash cloud rose as high as 6,000 metres above sea level. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
2. The Raikoke Volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula erupts on June 22, 2019. The last time it exploded was in 1924. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
3. Another image of the Raikoke eruption was captured on the same morning by the Suomi NPP satellite. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
4. One of the deadliest earthquakes struck Haiti in 2010. This GeoEye-1 satellite image shows rubble on the streets of Port-au-Prince on January 13. About 250,000 people were killed in the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
5. A huge sandstorm rolls across the Sahara Desert on August 1, 2018. Astronaut Ricky Arnold captured this image from the ISS. Photo: Ricky Arnold Twitter -
6. Satellite images show an active volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma on September 26, 2021. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
7. The La Palma volcanic eruption has destroyed hundreds of homes. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
8. Astronauts on the space station captured images of auroras australis, or southern lights, while flying over the Indian Ocean. Light created by the wildfires in Australia can also be seen. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
9. This Terra satellite image shows how green (represented in red in this photo) the island of Leyte was before the deadly super typhoon Haiyan hit Philippines in 2013. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
10. Much of the vegetation and properties on the island was destroyed after the typhoon struck with winds of near 315 kilometres per hour. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
11. A view of super typhoon Haiyan from space taken by Nasa’s Aqua satellite. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
12. The European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite captured an image of the fires in southern California on December 5, 2017. This photo shows the largest of the blazes in Ventura County, which destroyed more than 65,000 acres. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
13. The highest volcano in the Galapagos Islands erupted for the first time in 33 years in 2015. An image captured by the Terra satellite shows volcanic ash and gases about 15 km high. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
14. An image of the Hurricane Dorian taken by US astronaut Christina Koch in 2019. The natural disaster struck the Bahamas and killed more than 70 people. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
15. Astronaut Christina Koch shared an image of smoke pluming over the Australian continent. The 2019-2020 bushfires destroyed thousands of homes and killed more than 30 people. Photo: Christina Koch Twitter -
16. Satellite images show a dust storm sweeping over the Middle East in 2015. The storm hit Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus and Palestine, causing many cancelled flights and the closure of seaports. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
17. A shield volcano erupts on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula on March 22, 2021. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
18. Astronaut Luca Parmitano shared an image of the wildfires in Australia on January 13, 2020. Photo: European Space Agency -
19. A 2007 view of Japan’s Tohoku region before one of the world’s deadliest earthquake destroyed most of the area in 2011. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
20. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis killed nearly 230,000 people. A satellite image shows the Indonesian town of Lhoknga destroyed by the natural disaster on December 26. All properties were destroyed, except for a white mosque that is visible in the image. Photo: Nasa -
21. The tsunamis, caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, also struck Sri Lanka. Photo: Nasa -
22. A satellite image taken after a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Tohoku region in Japan, with tsunami waves destroying most of the coastal area. About five to 10 metre waves flooded into the town. The photo shows flooding, a destroyed seawall and debris. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
23. The Raikoke Volcano eruption seen from space on June 22, 2019. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
24. A Suomi NPP satellite image shows smoke over Russia, as wildfires burned across 11 regions of the country in July 2019. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
25. Satellite image of forest fires in Northern California captured in August 2008. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
26. The Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted on May 9, 2021. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
27. The 2011 tsunami in Japan was so intense, it caused calving of large icebergs from the Sulzberger Ice Shelf on the Antarctic coast, as shown in this image captured by European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
28. Satellite image shows a powerful tornado (brown horizontal line in the middle of image) sweeping across Massachusetts on June 2011. It wreaked havoc for 63 kilometres, killing three people and destroying property. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
29. A satellite image of the Hurricane Katrina over the US in 2005. It struck the state of Louisiana, killing 1,833 people and destroying thousands of homes. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory -
30. The Caldor fire reached Lake Tahoe on the California and Nevada border on September 15, 2021, as seen in this Landsat 8 satellite image. The fire had been burning for 10 weeks. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory
The Asia-Pacific region suffers the highest damage, losing an average 1.6 per cent of GDP to disasters annually.
Developing countries also tend to be underinsured.
Only 40 per cent of disaster-related losses since 1980 were insured. Insurance coverage rates in developing countries were sometimes close to zero, the report said.
“The financial system really needs to get ahead of this curve, because otherwise there's a lot of built-up risk that isn't being priced into how we make decisions,” Jenty Kirsch-Wood, co-ordinating lead author of the report, told Reuters.
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Abdullah Abduljabar, Vice President of Al Ghadha Parks in Qassim, central Saudi Arabia, where a huge saxaul tree planting programme is being planned. All photos by Reuters -
Al Ghadha Parks is the world's largest saxaul botanical garden. For centuries millions of the trees, known by their Arabic name al ghadha, provided firewood, animal feed and respite from the desert heat for the Bedouin forefathers of modern Saudis. -
The trees produce seeds only as they become drier. Current conditions have provided the seeds to plant 250,000 drought-resistant saxauls in the region. -
Saxaul roots bind the desert sands, helping to constrain sandstorms. -
The kingdom aims to plant 10 billion trees in the coming decades as part of an ambitious campaign unveiled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last year. -
It is part of a green initiative aimed at reducing carbon emissions, pollution and land degradation. -
Abdullah Abduljabar checks soil quality in the saxaul garden. -
Majed Alsolaim, chief executive of Al Ghadha Parks, shows the Guinness World Record certificate for largest saxaul botanical garden held by the park.
