Man-Made Environmental Disasters

Man-Made Disasters: Complex Emergencies

• The topics covered are environmental degradation, pollution, accidents, food insecurity, epidemics, armed conflicts and displaced populations.

Environmental Degradation

• Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through resource depletion, ecosystem destruction and wildlife extinction
• Environmental degradation is a change or disturbance perceived as deleterious or undesirable
• It serves as both a driver and consequence of disasters, diminishing the environment's capacity to meet social and ecological needs
• Overconsumption of resources leads to environmental degradation, reducing essential ecosystem services
• Deforestation increases landslide hazards, and mangrove removal heightens storm surge damage
• Land degradation affects half of humanity and threatens half the global GDP (USD 44 trillion)
• Land degradation causes losses in soil content, nutrients, water storage, regulation and wildlife habitat
• Land degradation particularly drives drought risk and can also lead to climate change
• Overconsumption rates exceed the planet's biocapacity by 55%
• Economic growth is often associated with ecosystem destruction and degradation
• Nature-based solutions leverage healthy ecosystems to protect people and optimize infrastructure

Examples of Nature-Based Solutions

• In Odisha's Balangir district, community interventions to dig wells and ponds have enabled farmers to halt desertification and drought-induced distress migration
• New Clark City in the Philippines uses ecosystem-based adaptation principles and innovative building materials
• Protected areas play a strategic role in Madagascar's ability to withstand extreme weather events

Pollution

• Pollution introduces harmful materials, called pollutants, into the environment
• Pollutants, often created by human activity, damage air, water and land
• Cars, coal burning industries and homes generate pollution
• Pesticides seep into waterways and harm wildlife
• Air, water and land pollution make up the three main types of pollution
• Pollution is a global problem that can spread to remote places

Air Pollution

• Air pollution contaminates the indoor or outdoor atmosphere with chemical, physical, or biological agents
• Polluted air can cause eye irritation, breathing difficulties, and increased lung cancer risk
• Volcanoes cause air pollution by ejecting volcanic ash and gases
• Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are major sources of non-natural air pollution
• Burning gasoline produces carbon monoxide, a harmful gas that is heavily concentrated in city traffic
• Smog can issue air pollution warnings and makes breathing difficult, especially for children and older adults
• Acid rain can devastate forests, lakes and streams, devastating aquatic life
• Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane contribute to air pollution.
• Increased levels of greenhouse gasses have increased the greenhouse effect, leading to global warming
• The decade beginning in 2000 was the warmest on record
• Global warming is melting ice sheets and glaciers, causing sea levels to rise at 2mm (0.09 inches) per year
• Low-lying coastal regions and island nations are threatened by rising sea levels

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

• CFCs are a dangerous form of air pollution that governments began reducing in the 1980s and 1990s
• CFCs are found in cooling gases, foam products, and aerosol cans
• CFCs damage the ozone layer, harming its ability to protect the earth from UV radiation exposure
• Overexposure to ultraviolet radiation can lead to skin cancer and eye diseases

Water Pollution

• Water pollution contaminates water sources, making water unsafe for drinking, cooking, cleaning, swimming, and other activities
• Pollutants include chemicals, trash, bacteria, and parasites
• All forms of pollution eventually make their way to water
• Polluted water can look muddy and smell bad, or may look clean but contain harmful chemicals
• Exposure to polluted water can cause sickness years later
• Polluted water can harm people indirectly through contaminated fish

Causes of Water Pollution

• Chemicals and oils from factories are dumped or seep into waterways as runoff, creating toxic environments
• Runoff encourages cyanobacteria, otherwise known as blue-green algae
• Mining and drilling contribute to water pollution, including acid mine drainage near coal mines
• The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico caused an oil slick as large as 24,000 square kilometers in April 2010
• Oil spills not only pose harm to the environment, but also affect the health of persons exposed to them

Land Pollution

• Land pollution degrades our soil by outside contaminants
• Land pollution is the result of unsustainable agricultural practices, waste disposal, illegal dumping, mining and littering

Main Causes of Land Pollution

• Litter and Waste
• Urbanization and construction
• Mining and extraction
• Agriculture

Effects of Land Pollution

• Drinking water contamination
• Polluted soil, leading to agriculture loss
• Climate change, leading to flash floods and irregular rainfalls
• Climate change
• Endangerment and extinction of species
• Habitat destruction
• Habitat shifting
• Increase of wildfires
• Air pollution
• Increase of soil pollutants in the food chain
• Human health issues

How to Prevent Land Pollution

• Solid waste treatments
• Sustainable agricultural practices
• Reforestation
• Composting
• Reduce, reuse and recycle

Industrial Accidents

• An industrial accident involves hazardous materials, with consequences for the population and environment
• These accidents take the form of a fire, an explosion, or the emission of toxic or radioactive material

Causes of Industrial Accidents

• Improper training and supervision
• Careless operation
• Inadequate personal safety gear
• Defective or malfunctioning equipment
• Unsafe storage
• Poor house-keeping
• Improper ventilation
• Dangerous working conditions
• Poorly guarded equipment
• Insufficient lighting

World's Worst Industrial Disasters

• An explosion at Reactor 4 in Ukraine's Chornobyl power plant on April 26, 1986 spewed a cloud of radioactivity over Europe and the Soviet Union
• A pesticide plant in Bhopal, India spewed about 36 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas into the city's air, quickly killing about 4,000 people on December 3, 1984
• More than 1,100 workers died and about 2,500 were injured on April 24, 2013, when the eight-storey Rana Plaza garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed
• The Ozone Disco fire in Quezon City, Philippines broke out at 11:35 pm Philippine Standard Time on March 18, 1996 and killed at least 162 people
• The Kentex Slipper Manufacturing Fire took five hours to entirely extinguish, and 74 people died by the time the fire was extinguished in 2015

Food Insecurity

• The USDA defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life
• Food insecurity is one way to measure how many people can't afford food

Factors Responsible for Food Insecurity Worldwide

• Population Growth
• Climate Change
• Increasing cost of food
• Unemployment
• Poverty
• Loss of biodiversity

Food Security in the Philippines

• Food security exists when people have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food
• Dimensions include food availability, economic and physical access to food, food utilization and stability

Epidemics and Pandemics

• Epidemics are an unexpected and sudden increase of a specific illness within a community or region
• Pandemics are world wide epidemics which cross international borders, affecting a large number of people
• Communicable diseases can lead to epidemics or pandemics
• Preventative measures include; good hygiene, social distancing and vaccinations

Famous pandemics

• Bubonic plague or the Black Death made its first appearance in Pandemic levels in the 14th century. In 1665, the Great Plague of London killed 20% of London's population
• The Spanish flu was an influenza pandemic that spread around the world and was caused by an H1N1 virus. About 500 million people were infected, and it resulted in 50 million deaths worldwide

Armed Conflicts

• Millions of people have their lives shattered every year by armed conflicts and wars
• In Syria, government forces continue to fight foreign-backed armed groups for control of territory
• In Somalia, fighters from the Al-Shabaab armed group continue to resist government attempts to extend its control
• Armed conflicts result in civilian casualties, massive displacement, and violations of human rights

Crime against humanity

• Amnesty International documents and campaigns against violations of international law during armed conflicts.
• Amnesty sheds light on the increased risk of harm to at-risk groups such as children and people with disabilities

Most serious crimes under international law

• War crimes are serious violations of international humanitarian law including things like wilful killings or torture.
• Crimes against humanity, which has 11 crimes including murder and torture.
• Genocide, which is the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Armed Conflicts In the Philippines

• The Government of the Philippines is involved in multiple non-international armed conflicts in Mindanao against the Moro National Liberation Front, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf Group
• The Philippine Armed Forces are engaged in a non-international armed conflict with the New People's Army

Marawi Siege

• The armed confrontation between soldiers and militant groups displaced 98% of the local population

Displaced Populations

• The displacement of human populations involves moving large numbers of people from their homes

Climate change

• Climate change can reduce precipitation and convert farmland to desert
• Human population displacement occurs because of environmental changes and inequitable social or political systems

Internally displaced people (IDPs)

• IDPs stay within their own country, unlike refugees

Refugees

• Over the span of the year, the number of refugees worldwide increased from 20.7 in 2020 to 21.3 million at the end of 2021
• There were 794,100 people granted international protection on an individual (494,900) or group (299,200) basis
• People displaced inside their own countries due to armed conflicts or human rights violations are known as internally displaced people, or IDPs
• At the end of 2021, Syria, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Ethiopia and Afghanistan hosted the largest IDP populations
• "Climate refugees" describes the increasing scale migration and cross-border mass movements of people affected by weather disasters it is more accurate to refer to "persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change."
• India had 5,018,000 displaced, The Philippines had 4,094,000 displaced, and Bangladesh had 4,086,000 displaced due to disasters in 2019
• As of October 2022, over 943,000 stateless Rohingya refugees reside in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas