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Return to the Archive | BerkshireWorldHistory.com 15 September 2005 Volume 2, Issue 2 Just as the terrorist attacks of 9/11 brought our attention to global terrorism, the destruction and loss of life caused by hurricane Katrina has brought our attention to natural disasters. Natural disasters are natural because they are environmental events. They are disasters because they kill or injure humans or cause destruction to property. An environmental event that causes no harm to humans is not a disaster. Experts classify natural disasters into fifteen types:
MalariaOver the course of human existence, disease has caused more death than any other type of natural disaster. And the most deadly disease of all time is malaria. Malaria originated in sub-Saharan Africa and moved from there with indigenous Africans who began migrating out of Africa to Asia 100,000 or more years ago. There are four strains of malaria and each is caused by a one-cell parasite that lives in mosquitos and humans. It is transmitted to humans by the female anopheles mosquito which breeds in warm, wet environments. Eradication programs have controlled malaria in North American and Europe but malaria is still a problem in Africa, South Asia, and South and Middle America. Worldwide efforts led by the United Nations to eradicate the anopheles by spraying with DDT were initially successful but are now less so as the mosquito became resistant to the spray. Victims of PovertyInside the Berkshire Encyclopedia:
Articles on natural disasters include Climate Change, Earthquakes, Famine and Fire. Diseases are dissected in four main articles. Related and supplementary articles include Anthroposphere, Malaria, Quinine and Water. While the disaster event is natural in origin, the nature of the victims is largely human-determined. Hurricane Katrina is no exception, with most of the victims being poor and poorer neighborhoods suffering the greatest devastation. This is the pattern around the world and over the course of human history. Poor people suffer more because they are more vulnerable. They often live in the areas at greatest risk such as farmers on the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh, fishermen on the coasts of Thailand and Indonesia, and urban poor in the below-sea level neighborhhoods of New Orleans. Poor people, and people in less developed nations, are vulnerable also because they live and work in buildings that are not built to withstand natural disasters. This means, for example, that an earthquake in eastern Turkey or Iraq will knock down many stone houses and shops, killing and injuring the inhabitants while a modern earthquake-resistant high-rise will likely escape with only minor damage. Finally, poor people are more vulnerable because in poorer nations and neighborhoods, less assistance is readily available and what is available often goes to the wealthy first. 
Here's a new review of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History by John Lawrence of Lawrence Looks At Books:
New OrleansThe disaster in the Gulf region is one that strikingly shows our global connections. Mark Fischetti has been our office neighbor since 1998, and four years ago he wrote a major article for Scientific American called “Drowning New Orleans.” “A major hurricane," the headline went, "could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city.” Here are a few lines that put this disaster in global context: "Fixing the delta would serve as a valuable test case for the country and the world. Coastal marshes are disappearing along the eastern seaboard, the other Gulf Coast states, San Francisco Bay and the Columbia River estuary for many of the same reason besetting Louisiana. Parts of Houston are sinking faster than New Orleans. Major deltas around the globe--from the Orinoco in Venezuela, to the Nile in Egypt, to the Mekong in Vietnam--are in the same delicate state today that the Mississippi Delta was in 100 to 200 years ago. Lessons from New Orleans could help establish guidelines for safer development in these areas, and the state could export restoration technology worldwide. In Europe, the Rhine, Rhone and Po deltas are losing land. And if sea level rises substantially because of global warming in the next 100 years or so, numerous low-lying coastal cities such as New York would need to take protective measures similar to those proposed for Louisiana." Here are three articles that will be especially useful in the classroom:
World history is the story of human lives connected, over time and over space. In teaching and studying history, we all relish the chance to look at how our connections have enabled knowledge to grow, arts to flourish, and communities to prosper. Sadly, now and throughout history, our connections have failed us, and people have too often failed one another. Disasters are a time when human selfishness and stupidity have often been demonstrated, as they were in the Gulf region. But they have also been times when we can see some of the best of human nature, caring, and ingenuity. What an opportunity to talk to students about the past, with current events to provide context, as well as about how we can learn from the recent past to avoid such disasters in future. With warm regards, World History To Go is published every two weeks during the school year. Please forward to your colleagues so they can sign up, and let your library know that they can order the Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History now at a 5% discount if they join our FANclub (and all Berkshire shipping in the US is free). |
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