Some of the world’s largest companies suffered multimillion-dollar losses from flooding or drought in the past year, according to a November 16 report from The Guardian. Citing a study from the Carbon Disclosure Project, The Guardian stated that although too much or too little water can affect the profits of large companies, many of those companies remain unprepared for problems likely to arise in the future.
Natural hazards cause widespread losses in dollars and lives, but Mother Nature does not deserve all the blame. Growing human populations and increasingly expensive infrastructure have also contributed to the losses. In short, more people have more stuff for Nature to damage or destroy. For more background, see the Earth Observatory feature The Rising Cost of Natural Hazards.
Are there not some inexpensive preparatory steps that organizations can take in order to stave off natural hazards? I mean in the case of flooding, there are those inflatable temporary dams that isolate buildings from floods. What else is there like that which can help prepare for a disaster before the unfortunate happens?
In college I did a study about the ration of deaths to costs stemming from natural disasters. It seems like the the more expensive a disaster is the lower the cost in human life. It comes from zoning and substantial construction. From that perspective, it may be a good thing that costs of natural disasters are rising…
Hi David!
That would be a very interesting paper to read! Would you still have that paper available to read?
If so please contact me at travisrycroft@hotmail.com