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Connor Jones

Mr. Philips

EGP 8021

10/24/23

The human race is powerless when faced with natural disasters

Throughout history, multiple great civilizations have been decimated due to natural

disasters, such as Pompeii in 79 AD, and the Mayans in 900. Natural disasters can take many

forms, ranging from massive hurricanes to, country wide droughts, and even avalanches. The

human race has existed for thousands of years, and has encountered these disasters time and time

again, yet humans are still around, and haven’t gone extinct. Although humans aren’t able to

prevent natural disasters, humans are not powerless, because that would mean that there’s

absolutely nothing that could be done, however humans can use modern technology to combat

these events.

Ever since the 1950’s, when hurricanes were first being forecasted, natural disaster

prediction technology has advanced rapidly, and has only been improving throughout the 21st

century. In the modern technological era, scientists are able to predict almost every type of

natural disaster, ranging from tornadoes to tsunamis. According to MIT, hurricane

meteorologists can predict sustained wind intensity, and approximate wind speed, with fairly

consistent accuracy, as well as a storms path 3-5 days in advance, using tools such as satellite

imagery and doppler radar. Modern technology has allowed for greater prediction of not only

hurricanes, but other natural disasters as well, such as droughts and wildfires, by using moisture

scanning satellites. Prediction is a valuable tool that allows the population to be aware of natural
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disasters ahead of time, giving people time to prepare and possibly evacuate to remove

themselves from danger.

Although predicting natural disasters can give people warning, another way to completely

eliminate their effects is by using modern technology to reinforce infrastructure which will make

buildings immune to natural disasters. According to an article by GovPilot, disaster resistant

infrastructure reduces natural disaster impacts by being specifically designed to withstand each

type of disaster. Some examples of modern disaster resilient infrastructures include elevated

buildings for hurricanes, utilizing reinforced materials for tornadoes, adding retaining walls for

landslides, building flexible foundations for earthquakes, and constructing with brick to protect

against wildfires. These structures are specifically designed to resist the effects of natural

disasters, by reinforcing the areas of the building that are directly affected by that type of

disaster. This technology is the second line of defense behind prediction, because predicting an

event allows for people to be evacuated, then the resistant infrastructure allows the buildings to

withstand the disaster and be unharmed for when the people return, essentially eliminating the

disasters effects. Due to this, it shows that humans are not powerless against natural disasters,

since people can act defensively, and mitigate the effects by utilizing modern disaster resistant

infrastructure.

Even though the human race can predict where and when natural disasters will occur, as

well as resist their effects, there is almost nothing that humanity can do to physically prevent a

natural event. Granted, it is possible to mitigate the risk of some disasters such as avalanches and

wildfires, however, there is absolutely nothing that could be done to stop events such as

hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. For example, in 79 A.D., a volcano erupted destroying

the city of Pompeii, and claiming 16,000 lives. This historic event in Pompeii showed that
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humans are powerless against natural disasters, however, those people were not as capable as the

human race is today. According to The History Channel, sixteen years before the Pompeii

eruption, an earthquake occurred followed by a series of smaller quakes which were telltale signs

that an eruption was imminent. Without modern technology, the people of Pompeii were clueless

to what the quakes meant, and therefore had no way of predicting the eruption. If a similar event

were to happen today, there would be warning years in advance, and people would be able to

safely relocate, resulting in zero casualties. Even though the events in Pompeii showed that

people truly are powerless against a natural disaster, there are tools that would allow for safe

evacuation and minimal damage, resulting in no death.

Clearly, there is next to nothing that the human-race can do to prevent a natural disaster,

as demonstrated by several events throughout ancient and modern history. Humans, however, are

not powerless when faced with surviving natural disasters. Humanity can combat these events by

acting defensively, and mitigating the effects. Humans can mitigate these effects using advanced

prediction technology to evacuate people out of endangered areas, and by using specially

designed infrastructure to resist the effects of disasters and minimize damage. In conclusion, the

human-race is powerless when faced with natural disasters, however humanity has adapted to

protect themselves against these catastrophes, by using technology, to predict these events and

protect against them.

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Citations

Samost, Aubrey. “Predicting Hurricanes.” Mit.edu, 2022, web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2010/

teams/neworleans1/predicting%20hurricanes.htm#:~:text=Scientists%20can%20usually

%20predict%20its.

GovPilot. “What Is Disaster Resilient Infrastructure? Why Is It Needed? | GovPilot.”

Www.govpilot.com, 1 Jan. 2023, www.govpilot.com/blog/what-is-disaster-resilient-

infrastructure-why-is-it-needed#:~:text=Landslide%20Resistant

%20Structures&text=Adding%20retaining%20walls%3A%20these%20walls. Accessed

25 Oct. 2023.

Editors, History.com. “Pompeii.” HISTORY, 27 Aug. 2010, www.history.com/topics/ancient-

rome/pompeii.