“An Informative Essay Research on the Effects and Differences of Natural and Man-made

Threats To Our Environment”

INTRODUCTION

“Disaster” comes from the Latin word astrum, which means star. Long ago, ancients
believed disasters such as typhoon, storm surge, extreme climates and others were caused by the
anger of the Almighty being who uses the environment to punish them for their sins. Thou shalt
be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquakes and great noise, with storm and
tempest, and the flame of devouring fire (Isaiah 29:6). Even today, these natural disasters can not
really be avoided, the only thing humans can control are the effects of these. The American College
of Emergency Physicians defines disaster as “when the destructive effects of natural or man-made
forces overwhelm the ability of a given area or community to meet the demand for health care.”
The World Health Organization defines it as “a sudden ecologic phenomenon of sufficient
magnitude to require external assistance.” In either case, disasters are defined by what they do to
people.

Historically, droughts and floods had the most fatal impact with lowest cases of death and
earthquakes seemed to have more deaths. According to Our World in Data, an article published in
2014, states there those disasters were responsible for 0.1% of deaths over the past decade. This
was highly variable, ranging from 0.01% to 0.4%, globally ranging from 60,000 deaths per year.
These disasters tend to affect people centered from low-to-middle income families. Over the past
20 years, 3 million deaths and $50 billion in property losses have been attributed to disasters. With
more people moving into disaster-prone areas—including earthquake zones, flood plains, and
coastal areas in the USA—the risk will increase in years to come. On the other hand, there’s much
more risk in man-made threats. Man-made threats to the environment are risks made by human/
human doings. These include pollution, overpopulation, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation.
Unlike natural disasters, man-made ones can be countered. There are ways to eradicate or help
stop these threats to our environment. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil
erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. There are times that these two big groups correlate
with one another. One good example is the trapping of greenhouse gases caused by house or
factory chemicals released through the atmosphere. Production of hazardous materials such as
solvents to make plastic, and other chemical wastes add up to the emerging pollution. There are
approximately 53,000 “dangerous” chemicals in the workplace; toxicity information is available
for only half of them. Hazardous materials can reach people through inhalation, skin absorption,
or ingestion. Though we can’t really differentiate the two major group of disasters, they are
interconnected with each other.

MAN-MADE THREATS TO ENVIRONMENT

Pollution

Man-made pollution is generally a byproduct of human actions such as consumption, waste

disposal, industrial production, transportation, and energy generation. Pollutants can enter the
surrounding environment in various ways, either through the atmosphere, water systems or soil,
and can continue to succeeding generations if left untreated. One of the biggest pollution problem
we have is Air pollution that occurs when harmful chemicals or particulate matter are introduced
into the atmosphere. Major contributors of air pollution comes from industry, transportation and
agriculture. According to a research from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than nine
out of ten of the world’s population – 92% – lives in places where air pollution exceeds safe limits,
and air pollution is at 4th largest threat to human health.
Production of Hazardous Materials

Among the inhaled toxins are the asphyxiants, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and
methane, which displace oxygen. These chemicals do not only harm the environment through air
but also the risk on public health. There are approximately 53,000 “dangerous” chemicals in the
workplace; toxicity information is available for only half of them. According to NCBI, 3.5
hazardous materials releases occur each day. In essence, the Oklahoma City bombing was a
problem with 2 hazardous materials: ammonium nitrate and diesel oil.

IMG 3. Oklahoma city bombing

Overpopulation

This one might be the root of all causes of man-made threats. It could easily be avoided
and there are more achievable ways to eradicate overpopulation. Human overpopulation is among
the most pressing environmental issues, silently aggravating the forces behind global warming,
environmental pollution, habitat loss. The current population of humans on earth counts to 7.6
billion people and growing and is expected to project up to 9 billion by the year 2040. The term
overpopulation means that an area has a lot more population than what it can accommodate and
over time it could create serious environmental problems.
Deforestation

Deforestation in turn leads to a reduced ability to capture carbon dioxide, thus enabling the
greenhouse gas problem and could result to increase in global temperature (global warming) over
time. Deforestation is also strongly associated with loss of habitat and extinctions. Agriculture, as
mentioned above, is responsible for nearly 80% of global deforestation. Another 14 percent is
attributed to illegal logging, 5 percent to firewood collection, and the balance resulting from other
causes. According to National Geography, forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Between
1990 and 2016, the world lost 502,000 square miles (1.3 million square kilometers). Since
humans started cutting down forests, 46 percent of trees have been felled, according to a 2015
study in the journal Nature. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has
been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise.

Human population increase is related to all of these deforestation pressures. More people
means we need more food, more wood products, and more firewood.

NATURAL THREATS/DISASTERS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Floods

There are positive impacts of natural floods on suspended rivers so sediments can move
along. These sediments help replenish valuable topsoil components to agricultural lands and can
keep the elevation of a land mass above sea level. The problems start when flooding occurs in
areas of large-scale human development of the landscape. On the negative side, floods disrupt
normal drainage systems in cities and typically overwhelm sewer systems. Thus, raw or partially
raw sewage spills are common in flooded area. Additionally, if the flood is severe enough,
destruction of buildings that can contain a large array of toxic materials (paints, pesticides,
gasoline, etc..) can cause the release of these materials into the local environment, which is not
good.

Earthquake

A sudden movement of the earth's crust caused by the release of stress collected along
faults or by volcanic activity. Earthquake can create an impact on the environment in a negative
way such as collapsing buildings, create mud slides, fires, floods, and even tsunamis.
Tornadoes

Tornadoes are the most lethal atmospheric condition; they have caused 9000 deaths over the past
50 years in the USA. Tornadoes can be up to a half-mile wide, travel up to 185 miles, and have
winds up to 310 mph. About 700 tornadoes touch down in the USA each year, but only 3% cause
casualties. Fortunately, most tornadoes touch down in uninhabited areas. The Midwest is one of
the few parts of the world where a cold air mass can meet a warm, humid air mass and cause a
tornado. In most other parts of the world where the 2 air masses could meet, there is an obstruction,
such as a small mountain range or a large body of water.

Soil Erosion

Soil erosion and the resulting sedimentation constitute major natural hazards that produce
social and economic losses of great consequence. Erosion occurs in all climatic conditions. Erosion
by water or wind occurs on any sloping land regardless of its use. Land uses which increase the
risk of soil erosion include overgrazing, burning and/or exploitation of forests, certain agricultural
practices, roads and trails, and urban development. Soil erosion has three major effects: loss of
support and nutrients necessary for plant growth; downstream damage from sediments generated
by erosion; and depletion of water storage capacity, because of soil loss and sedimentation of
streams and reservoirs, which results in reduced natural stream flow regulation.
 CONCLUSION

Disasters are divided into two types—Natural disasters and the threats made by the people.
Both can have the same outcome, a negative impact. A natural disaster is a major adverse event
resulting from natural processes of the Earth; examples include firestorms, duststorms, floods,
hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, and other geologic
processes.

In conclusion, these two groups of disasters both negatively impact lives of people as well
as the whole environment. The only difference they have is that man-made threats are much
manageable and avoidable than natural ones. In addition to that, there are ways to prepare for these
disasters and it is basically a science now—Disaster Risk Management. In this study, organizations
hold symposiums, talk or speech and practicum to better handle situations under distress.