Disasters, Environment and Development – Module 5

Impacts of Disasters on Environment

Disasters are not random and do not occur by accident. They are the convergence of hazards and
vulnerable conditions. Disasters not only reveal underlying social, economic, political and
environmental problems, but unfortunately contribute to worsening them. Such events pose
serious challenges to development, as they erode hard-earned gains in terms of political, social
and educational progress, as well as infrastructure and technological development.
The impacts of disasters on environment and development are manifold. Disasters create
substantial environmental degradation and ecological imbalance, hinder socioeconomic
development and retard the process of improving the quality of life of the people. The interaction
of disasters and environment has both short-term and long-term effects. These interaction and
interdependencies work in a complicated way, affecting people, ecosystem and bio-diversity.

Environmental vulnerability
 It includes the extent of natural resource depletion and data on resource degradation.
 Reduced access to clean air, safe water and sanitation and inappropriate forms of waste
management, especially in heavily populated and urban environments, can aggravate
socio economic vulnerability.
 Poorer environmental conditions such as diminished biodiversity, soil degradation or
growing food scarcity can easily threaten food security for people dependent on the
products of land, forests, pastures and marine environment for their livelihoods.
 As natural resources become scarcer, the range of options available to communities
become more limited, reducing the availability of coping solutions and reducing local
resilience to hazards or capacity to recover from disasters.
 Over a period of time, environmental factors can further increase vulnerability by creating
new and undesirable patterns of social discord, economic destitution and eventually
forced migration of entire communities.

Environmental Impacts of Dams

The construction of large dams completely change the relationship of water and land,
destroying the existing ecosystem balance which, in many cases, has taken thousands of years
to create. Currently there are around 40,000 large dams which obstruct the world's rivers,
completing changing their circulation systems: this is not going to occur without dire
environmental impacts.

Throughout the past few years, the negative impacts of dams have become so well known that
most countries have stopped building them altogether and are now forced to invest their
money into fixing the problems created by existing dams.

Soil Erosion
One of the first problems with dams is the erosion of land. Dams hold back the sediment load
normally found in a river flow, depriving the downstream of this. In order to make up for the
sediments, the downstream water erodes its channels and banks. This lowering of the riverbed
threatens vegetation and river wildlife. A major example of soil erosion problems is the Aswan
Dam.
One of the reasons dams are built is to prevent flooding. However, most ecosystems which
experience flooding are adapted to this and many animal species depend on the floods for
various lifecycle stages, such as reproduction and hatching. Annual floods also deposit nutrients
and replenish wetlands.

Species Extinction
As fisheries become an increasingly important source of food supply, more attention is being paid to the
harmful effects of dams on many fish and marine mammal populations. The vast majority of large dams
do not include proper bypass systems for these animals, interfering with their lifecycles and sometimes
even forcing species to extinction.
Spread of Disease
Dam reservoirs in tropical areas, due to their slow-movement, are literally breeding grounds for
mosquitoes, snails, and flies, the vectors that carry malaria, schistosomiasis, and river blindness.

Changes to Earth's Rotation

Nasa geophysicist Dr. Benjamin Fong Chao found evidence that large dams cause changes to
the earth's rotation, because of the shift of water weight from oceans to reservoirs. Because of
the number of dams which have been built, the Earth's daily rotation has apparently sped up by
eight-millionths of a second since the 1950s. Chao said it is the first time human activity has
been shown to have a measurable effect on the Earth's motion.
Perhaps the most significant environmental effect of dams results from the displacement of
human populations. Because people normally settle along rivers, where water for drinking,
irrigation, power, and transport are readily available, reservoir flooding can displace huge
populations. The planned Three Gorges Dam on China's Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) will
displace 1.4 million people and flood some of western China's best agricultural land. A series of
dams on India's Narmada river will inundate the homes of 1.5 million people along with
600,000 acres (150,000 ha) of farm land. In both cases, people will need to find new places to
live and clear new land to grow food.

DISADVANATGES:
1. Dams are extremely expensive to build and must be built to a very high standard.
2. The high cost of dam construction means that they must operate for many decades to become
profitable.
3. The flooding of large areas of land means that the natural environment is destroyed.
4. People living in villages and towns that are in the valley to be flooded, must move out. This means
that they lose their farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forcibly removed so that
hydro-power schemes can go ahead.
5. The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. For example, the building of the
Hoover Dam in the USA triggered a number of earth quakes and has depressed the earth’s surface
at its location.
6. Although modern planning and design of dams is good, in the past old dams have been known to
be breached (the dam gives under the weight of water in the lake). This has led to deaths and
flooding.
7. Dams built blocking the progress of a river in one country usually means that the water supply
from the same river in the following country is out of their control. This can lead to serious
problems between neighboring countries.
8. Building a large dam alters the natural water table level. For example, the building of the Aswan
Dam in Egypt has altered the level of the water table. This is slowly leading to damage of many of
its ancient monuments as salts and destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from
‘rising damp’ caused by the changing water table level.
Environmental Effects of Urbanization
Urban populations interact with their environment. Urban people change their environment
through their consumption of food, energy, water, and land. And in turn, the polluted urban
environment affects the health and quality of life of the urban population.
1. Biodiversity
As cities grow in number, spatial extent and density, their environmental and ecological
footprints increase. Urban expansion that takes place in forests, wetlands and agricultural
systems leads to habitat clearing; degradation and fragmentation of the landscapes. Urban
lifestyles, which tend to be consumptive, requiring great natural resources and generating
increasing amounts of waste also lead to increased levels of air, water and soil pollution.
A paper published in the PNAS states that unsustainable urbanization will have disastrous effects
on global ecosystems. The areas of Asia, Africa and South America that are rapidly growing will
overlap with biodiversity hotspots. The aftermath? Urban expansion will lead to the demise of
139 amphibian species, 41 mammalian species and 25 bird species. All of these are endangered
or critically endangered.
2. Inequality Water
Approximately 97% of the earth’s water is stored in the oceans, and only a fraction of the
remaining portion is usable freshwater. When precipitation falls over the land, it follows various
routes. Some of it evaporates, returning to the atmosphere, some seeps into the ground, and the
remainder becomes surface water, traveling to oceans and lakes by way of rivers and streams.

Impervious surfaces associated with urbanization alter the natural amount of water that takes
each route. The consequences of this change are a decrease in the volume of water that
percolates into the ground; and a resulting increase in volume and decrease in quality of surface
water. These hydrological changes have significant implications for the quantity of fresh; clean
water that is available for use by humans, fish and wildlife.
3. Air Pollution
Air pollution often plagues industrialized cities, particularly during their early development.
Episodes of high levels of sulfurous smog killed or sickened thousands in Donora in 1948, as well
as in London in 1952. Other cities—primarily in the industrialized regions of the United States
and Europe—also suffered from notoriously bad air quality. These events were the result of very
high emissions of sulfur dioxide, smoke, and other particles during stagnant, foggy weather
conditions.
4. Diseases
Urbanization has led to reduced physical activity and unhealthy nutrition. The World Health
Organization predicts that by 2020, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease will
account for 69 percent of all deaths in developing countries. Another urbanization-related threat
is infectious diseases. Air travel carries bacteria and viruses from one country to the next. In
addition, people relocating from rural areas are not immune to the same diseases as long-time
city residents, which puts them at a greater risk of contracting a disease.
5. Elevated emissions of air pollutants and GHGs
This is a consequence of urban industry, emissions from cars, and the electricity demand. Around
the world, companies use fossil fuels such as coal and petrol to generate electricity. Burning these
compounds leads to an increase in air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. They represent a
health and environmental hazard, for they contribute to the formation of smog and the
precipitation of acid rain. Urban GHG emissions are largely responsible for global warming and
climate change.
6. Development of slums
The cost of living in urban areas is very high. When this is combined with random and unexpected
growth as well as unemployment, there is the spread of unlawful resident settlements
represented by slums and squatters. The growth of slums and squatters in urban areas is even
further exacerbated by fast-paced industrialization, lack of developed land for housing, large
influx of rural immigrants to the cities in search of better life, and the elevated prices of land
beyond the reach of the urban poor.
Although urbanization is a necessary condition for modernization, we can mitigate the effect of
it. We just need to learn how to save the planet and conserve our natural resources,
through recycling water and the use of renewable energy.

In which year did the number of people living in urban areas first exceed the number living in
rural areas
Land Use Changes Environmental Impacts
Socioeconomic Impacts of Land–Use Changes
 Conversion of farmland and forests to urban development reduces the amount of land
available for food and timber production.
 Soil erosion, salinization, desertification, and other soil degradations associated with
agricultural production and deforestation reduce land quality and agricultural
productivity.
 Conversions of farmland and forests to urban development reduce the amount of open
space and environmental amenities for local residents.
 Urban development reduces the “critical mass” of farmland necessary for the economic
survival of local agricultural economies.
 Urban development patterns not only affect the lives of individuals, but also the ways in
which society is organized.
 Urban development has encroached upon some rural communities to such an extent that
the community’s identify has been lost.
 Suburbanization intensifies income segregation and economic disparities among
communities.
 Excessive land use control, however, may hinder the function of market forces.
 Land use regulations that aim at curbing land development will raise housing prices,
making housing less affordable to middle– and low–income households.
 Land use regulation must strike a balance between private property rights and the public
interest.
Environmental Impacts of Land–Use Changes
 Land use and land management practices have a major impact on natural resources
including water, soil, air, nutrients, plants, and animals.
 Runoff from agriculture is a leading source of water pollution both in inland and coastal
waters.
 Draining wetlands for crop production and irrigation water diversions has had a negative
impact on many wildlife species.
 Irrigated agriculture has changed the water cycle and caused groundwater levels to
decline in many parts of the world.
 Intensive farming and deforestation may cause soil erosion, salinization, desertification,
and other soil degradations.
 Deforestation adds to the greenhouse effect, destroys habitats that support biodiversity,
affects the hydrological cycle and increases soil erosion, runoff, flooding and landslides.
 Urban development causes air pollution, water pollution, and urban runoff and flooding.
 Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and alteration associated with urban development
are a leading cause of biodiversity decline and species extinctions.
 Urban development and intensive agriculture in coastal areas and further inland is a major
threat to the health, productivity, and biodiversity of the marine environment throughout
the world.
Sustainable development
Sustainable development, in the dictionary, is economic development that is conducted without
depletion of natural resources. However, it applies to and can be incorporated into everything
we do. It’s application spans from growing food, sourcing product materials, operating a
business, to building societal infrastructure and how we live individually and/or as a society.
Example: Environmental sustainability is the rates of renewable resource harvest, pollution
creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely. We’re
consuming more natural resources than nature itself can reproduce, some of which are non-
renewable. We are also causing irreparable damage to our environment due to our high level of
consumption.
Facts to think about
 On average, each person produces about 4.3 pounds of garbage each day
 Garbage can take up to 100-400 years to decompose
 Just think about this…300 million tons of plastic is produced globally each year with only
about 10% of that being recycled
 16 billion pounds of waste are dumped into oceans each year
 35 billion barrels of oil are burned worldwide each year (2016 statistic)
 Waste can cause air and water pollution, produce harmful gases, and can cause
respiratory problems in people
 While the United States makes up 5% of the world's population it uses 25% of the world's
resources
Here are some top areas you will want to familiarize yourself with and ponder what you
can do to make a difference.

 Climate change - understanding what it actually is, how it happens and how we can
reduce our impact. Most people think “global warming” means it's going to be warm
like summer all year around which scares me.
 Energy consumption - curve our energy consumption and find better ways to create
energy (solar, wind, water, etc)
 Sustainable sourcing - sourcing local / buy local
 Waste production / environmental footprint - focus on recycling versus constant trips to
a local landfill
 Threats to public health
 Poverty / Affordability
 Management of natural resources
It’s difficult for people to completely change their lifestyle but here are some very easy “green
living” tips you can incorporate into your every day that you won’t notice but the environment
will.
 1. Reduce energy consumption by turning off lights and electronics when not in use. Install
high efficiency LED Light bulbs. Wash clothes in cold water. Use a drying rack to dry your
clothes. Insulate your home to increase your homes heating and cooling efficiency.
2. Buy a water filter and don’t drink bottled water. Purchase reusable water bottles and
filter your ware with PUR, Brita or similar systems. This will cut down dramatically on
plastic waste.
3. Save water by taking shorter showers, use faucet aerators, install high efficiency toilets,
washing machines and dishwashers.
4. Make your own cleaning supplies with non-toxic items. Baking soda, vinegar and lemon
are among popular ingredients that can be used to clean countertops to toilet bowls to
your washing machine.
5. Buy reused items if possible and refurbish older items such as furniture, clothing and
appliances.
6. Eat less meat to and buy locally made products
7. Walk, bike or take public transit to work to reduce your fuel costs and impact on the
environment.
8. Donate used items you don’t need to local non-profits.
9. Recycle as much as possible. Local municipalities have recycling programs to support the
reuse of plastic, paper, appliances and more. Contact your local government or go
online to learn about the recycling options in your area.

Environmentally friendly
“Environmentally friendly, environment-friendly, eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green are
marketing claims referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that inflict reduced,
minimal, or no harm at all, upon ecosystems or the environment.”
Easy Ways to Become More Environmentally Friendly
Learning to be more environmentally friendly is easier than you think. You don’t have to jump
in by changing everything, start small to make the changes more sustainable and a part of your
normal life. Here are 5 ways you can begin to become more environmentally friendly.
1. Become More Aware of Resources: Start by living with a greater awareness of the resources
that you use in your daily life. Pay attention to how you choose to heat, to travel, to use water
and use products that were made by manufacturing practices. Awareness is what will allow you
to then begin to make environmentally friendly choices.
2. Practice Conservation: With your new awareness of how natural resources are used in your
life start to practice conservation. This can be as simple as turning off the lights as you leave a
room and as complex as making different choices when it comes to building your home. Learn
here more about 15 green home building techniques.
3. Plant Trees: Trees are necessary for us to survive. They give oxygen, fruits, clean the air,
provide shelter to wildlife, prevent soil erosion. A shady landscape around your home can help
you to reduce consumption of energy and keep your home cool even during summers. Plant
small trees around your home, don’t cut them unless it’s necessary, work with
local environmental groups to plant more trees and educate others about the positive aspects
of it.
4. Conserve Water: Water needs to be conserved as lot of energy is required to pump water
from rivers or lakes into your home. Conserving water reduces the amount of energy that is
needed to filter it. Few ways to conserve water are – take short showers, fix leaking pipes, keep
the running tap close while you brush your teeth, recycle water in your home, use water saving
appliances, collect rainwater in a rain barrel to water your lawn.
5. Change Your Travel Habits: Driving and flying are two areas where you can make a real
impact with environmentally friendly practices. Choose fuel efficient travel options, travel less
and try to pick more direct routes to save on fuel. If your office is near your home, try to ride a
bicycle instead of a car.
6. Use Less Fossil Fuel Based Products: Find out what products and consumables you use that
are made using fossil fuel based products and processes and use them less or replace them in
your life.

7. Buy Locally Grown Products: An easy way to reduce your carbon footprint is to buy locally
grown products. When you shop locally instead of buying products that were shipped from far
away, you are actually supporting local dairies and farms. Apart from this, you can
follow organic farming practices and can grow food on your own backyard and can sell surplus
to your friends.
8. Reduce Use of Harmful Chemicals: Hazardous chemicals like paint, oil, ammonia and other
chemical solutions when disposed openly, can cause pollution in the air and water as these
chemicals can seep into the groundwater. The polluted air and water can have serious
consequences on human health. They should be disposed off to a toxic waste site for safe
disposal.
9. Composting: Composting is an easy process that takes remains of plants and kitchen waste
and converts it into rich nutrient food for your plants that helps them grow. It reduces the
amount of garbage that goes to the landfills which pollutes the air. This way it proves safe for
the environment.
10. 3 R’s of Waste Hierarchy: The 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) waste hierarchy is the order of
priority of actions to be taken to reduce the amount of waste generated and to improve
overall waste management processes and programs. Reduce simply means reducing what is
produced and what is consumed. Reuse items for a different purpose instead of sending them
to landfills. To recycle something means that it will be transformed again into a raw material
that can be shaped into a new item.
11. Bur Recycled Products: When you go out for shopping, try to buy products from market
that are made up of recycled materials with minimal packaging i.e. the product should be
environment friendly. Look into manufacturing processes to check if it was made from recycled
materials or the use of plastics or chemicals was involved in its production.
12. Join Environment Groups: You may find different environmental groups in your city with
whom you can join hands to protect mother earth and make the environment clean. A quick
Google search can help you in finding such groups. You can also pull your friends and relatives
and ask them for a helping hand.
13. Stop Littering: One of the common sight that we see everyday on streets is seeing
people littering on roads. One of the ways to keep the environment and surrounding clean
around you is to stop people from littering on roads. Instead, educate them to put trash and
garbage in dustbins. The pile of garbage on road hampers the beauty of city and also pollutes
the air.
14. Protect Wildlife: Human activity is leading to extinction of endangered species and habitats.
Protect places like beaches and forests that are habitats for animals. Join hands with local
forest department to protect animal habitat.
15. Educate Others: Educate others about the importance of living an environmentally friendly
life. The more people share an awareness of the importance of the environment, the more we
can do together to conserve it.

How to Recover From a Natural Disaster While Being Environmentally Friendly

The World Health Organization defines a natural disaster as “an act of nature of such magnitude
as to create a catastrophic situation in which the day-to-day patterns of life are suddenly
disrupted and people are plunged into helplessness and suffering … ”
The large-scale effects of a natural disaster can create crises as public officials — even with all of
the resources they have available — struggle to manage with the fallout of each situation. As we
become ever-more aware of climate change and extreme weather events, public health officials
are trying to sustainably and proactively manage public health problems. However, what is often
lost in the catastrophic statistics and news reports is the individual struggles that countless
people go through in order to recover within their personal lives.
Picking up the broken pieces of a life shattered by the increasing number of natural disasters that
humanity faces every year can be an intimidating struggle — especially when one desires to
continue to be environmentally conscious as they rebuild their damaged lives. With that said,
here are some tips and considerations to help eco-conscious victims of natural disasters get back
up on their feet with minimal impact on the environment.

Reconstruction
Reconstruction is the permanent construction or replacement of severely damaged physical
structures, the full restoration of all services and local infrastructure, and the revitalization of the
economy (including agriculture). Reconstruction must be fully integrated into ongoing long-term
development plans, taking account of future disaster risks. It must also consider the possibilities
of reducing those risks by the incorporation of appropriate mitigation measures.

Reconstruction, on the other hand, represents long-term development assistance, which could
help people in the affected areas to rebuild their lives and meet their present and future needs.
It takes into account reduction of future disaster risks. Rehabilitation may not necessarily restore
the damaged structures and resources in their previous form or location. It may include the
replacement of temporary arrangements established as part of emergency response or the
upgradation of infrastructure and systems from pre-disaster status.
The Process of Reconstruction had three major stages: I: Principles and Planning, II:
Implementation and III: Ensuring Sustainability.
Stage I: Principles and Planning: The first task was setting up the basic principles for planning
the rehabilitation intervention. The intervention had to be participatory, with a gradual increase
in the involvement of the community. The program should be flexible with sufficient buffers for
time and resources allowed in the overall project schedule. Rehabilitation should be
empowering. The Project Team would not, and should not, remain with the community forever.
In such a case, the community who were the first responders should be sufficiently equipped to
cater to their immediate needs. A well-planned rehabilitation exercise could significantly increase
the capacity of the community for a more effective response. Incorporating the principles stated
above, an overall plan evolved. This plan had three parts: the Strategy Plan, the Community
Action Plan and the Implementation Plan. The role of the Project Team was to facilitate the
reconstruction process. The composition of the team was therefore very important.
Stage II: Implementation: This Implementation Stage of the project consisted of three steps:
1. Need Assessment,
2. Capacity Building,
3. Implementation.
In Step 1, emphasis was placed on the following features: (1) recognizing the community’s needs,
2) prioritization of needs as per the available resources, and 3) translating needs into appropriate
action jointly with the community. The role of government at this stage of the exercise provided
a recognized legal basis for working in the community.
In Step 2 aimed to translate the plan into action.
In Step 3 focused on joint implementation. Project implementation components include
reconstruction of houses and infrastructure as well as training programs. One significant part of
the training program was the half-size shake-table testing with different building materials, which
aimed to increase people's confidence in earthquake-resistant construction practices.
Stage III: Ensuing Sustainability: The effort initiated by the Project Team needed to be
sustainable long after the interventions were over. In effect, intervention should be designed to
ensure that the community was able to take care of its development needs and was resilient
against future disasters. For this, strengthening local institutions was necessary.