Elements for Life

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HE ELEMENTS OF

weather and, water in its different

forms and their interaction in climatic processes, make

up the basis for sustaining various life forms in nature.

These natural forces, acting together with the soils and land of

Earth are responsible for the life and well being of people and

their communities. Together with humankind’s collective

knowledge and experience, these natural resources also provide

all the other forms of sustenance that people need to prosper

and for communities and nations to develop.

Elements of life – as well as risk

Since the beginning of recorded history people have gathered,

lived, and created assets of social and economic value in loca-

tions where they could take advantage of rich, watered

floodplains, abundant grasslands and forests, bountiful coastal

shores, and other areas nurtured by conducive weather and

productive climatic conditions. However, as the global popula-

tion increases, and more people choose to live in productive or

otherwise desirable locations of opportunity, they continue to

court disaster at least in part because they have often failed to

identify vulnerability and risk, and thus failed to protect them-

selves and their livelihoods sufficiently from harm and loss.

Forces of weather encroach on societies with the ever-present

risk of disruption, destruction and loss that people associate

with the occurrence of extreme events. Every year, extreme

weather, water and climate conditions intrude on the lives and

critical functioning of millions of people living together in soci-

eties. They disrupt food production, access to water, public

health, assured shelter, functioning institutional infrastructure,

transportation, provision of essential supplies, individual

personal livelihoods and the benefits of combined economic

endeavour.

Natural hazards, such as wildfires, which occur and are

fanned by specific climatic conditions; or avalanches, land-,

mud- and debris slides which are generated or augmented by

hydrometeorological conditions; or the complex association

of hazards identified with climatic variation attributed to El

Niño conditions or other seasonal anomalies and global

warming, all display the powerful forces that can and do

destroy the lives, livelihoods and physical infrastructure which

humankind has otherwise created.

During 2006 there were 375 disasters with nationwide conse-

quences. These disasters killed more than 20,000 people and

caused USD18.3 billion worth of damage in 106 countries.

In 2005, there were 650 major natural hazard events around

the world, amounting to a record USD219 billion in losses.

Although about 90 per cent of the 100,000 fatalities during the

year were attributable to the Himalayan earthquake that struck

Pakistan and India in October 2005, typically about 85 per cent

of the disasters and more than 95 per cent of the losses were

based on weather, water or climate-related hazards.

For Munich Re, the annual losses for 2006 alone totalled

USD45 billion, around one-fifth of the previous year’s figure.

Dr Torsten Jeworrek, a member of Munich Re’s Board of

Management commented: “The fact nevertheless remains that,

in the longer term, the number of severe weather-related

natural catastrophes is set to increase due, among other things,

to global warming. Combined with further increasing concen-

trations of values in exposed areas, this means continually

rising loss potentials.”

During its 61st session, The UN Secretary General reported

similar concerns to the UN General Assembly, highlighting that

between June 2005 and May 2006 there were 404 disasters

with nationwide consequences. That was 25 per cent higher

than the average for the preceding 10-year period. Altogether,

115 countries were affected and the economic costs were 2.6

times the 10-year average, reaching USD173 billion. The

number of floods was nearly 50 per cent higher and accounted

for 97 per cent of these economic damages.

These dynamic conditions call for expanded political lead-

ership and enhanced technical capacity of practitioners from

many professional disciplines. They also require information

dissemination, awareness-raising campaigns and greater

community involvement to motivate individual and collective

behaviour to protect life-sustaining conditions from unneces-

sary loss. Educational opportunities, access to information and

means of communications must reach, in their languages,

communities in disaster-risk areas and become more instru-

mental in developing a ‘culture of disaster resilience’.

How ‘natural’ are disasters?

Disaster reduction begins with the identification of natural

hazards, recognizing the risks they pose to people, livelihoods

and human settlements before they become a disaster. While

these adverse circumstances are routinely referred to in a

general sense as ‘catastrophes’ or ‘disasters’, it is useful to

understand that a disaster can be elaborated further as ‘a serious

disruption of the functioning of a community or a society

causing widespread human, material, economic or environ-

mental losses which exceed the ability of the affected

community or society to cope using its own resources.’ This

demonstrates that much can be done to minimize people’s

exposure to unnecessary harm and loss by enhancing their

resources and capabilities. Despite the fact that the hazards or

Using what we know about

disasters for safer lives and livelihoods

Sálvano Briceño, Director, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)