Examples of natural disasters
Natural disasters are phenomena caused by nature and have devastating consequences for human beings; The European Environment Agency defines them as violent, untimely and destructive changes in natural environments and man does not intervene, however, when these phenomena take place in places inhabited by humans it can bring negative and often catastrophic effects, they are consequences that other phenomena such as rain or mild volcanic activity would not cause a storm or flood in an unpopulated area could not be considered a natural disaster.
A natural disaster can be more or less serious according to the number of lives that are affected, the material losses and consequently the capacity that people have to recover from all the devastation. Every natural disaster has a power that goes beyond any human control and its consequences can bring more serious effects and that can extend much longer from the moment after the disaster, one of the most famous examples is that of the Vesuvius volcano which in the AD 79 it erupted completely destroying the city of Pompeii and Herculaneum, leaving everything under ash, lava, molten rock and pumice, killing the entire population.
At present, scientists and geologists are working on new technologies in order to predict these types of disasters and carry out preventive measures to reduce the negative impact as much as possible, advances have been made especially with storms, cyclones and other similar without However, there are natural phenomena that are too unpredictable, making it difficult to reduce damage.
Examples of natural disasters
- The Eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883.
- The earthquake in Mexico City in 1985.
- Hurricane Katrina.
- The Japanese tsunami in 2011.
- Hurricane Andrew in the United States.
- Forest fires
- Floods
- Land mass movements
- Landslides
- Avalanches
- Hurricanes
- Radioactive pollution
- Tornadoes
- Pandemics
- Cyclones