A number of disasters across the world are being caused due to civilization. Population explosion, industrialization and haphazard development often lead to serious disasters. They can also be due to human negligence or error.
1. Epidemics:
Epidemics arise due to unhealthy environment and carelessness of authorities and the people in terms of sanitary requirements. Epidemics occur when diseases are spread on a large-scale across a large region. They cause severe harm to human life and are particularly common after floods and droughts. Slum dwellers are prone to these diseases because of lack of sanitation and the density of population per area.
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Management and Mitigation of Epidemics:
i. Government should immediately come up with warnings to make people aware of the situation.
ii. One must visit the doctor immediately if they detect any symptoms.
iii. Proper public health systems should be in place.
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iv. Vaccination should be taken regularly.
v. Disaster management teams should be equipped to handle epidemics.
vi. Sanitary conditions should be properly maintained.
2. Nuclear Disasters:
When nuclear energy is used carelessly or when it is used for non-productive purposes, it leads to disasters. Radiation accidents are more common than nuclear disasters but they cause damage to a smaller area than nuclear disasters.
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Management and Mitigation of Nuclear and Radioactive Disasters:
i. Countries should be careful when undertaking any nuclear activity.
ii. Nuclear areas should be kept away from populated regions.
iii. Companies should be careful when they conduct experiments with radioactive materials.
3. Industrial accidents:
Chemical and industrial accidents cause a lot of harm to human population as well as to the flora and fauna. They are caused due to negligence of industries, technical faults in industries or due to geological hazards. Chemical and industrial accidents pollute the water and air of the surrounding areas. Therefore, they eventually cause tremendous harm to human life. The toxins that are released result in diseases like cancer, weakening of the heart, and loss of eyesight. They also cause pollution of the environment. Surrounding flora and fauna suffer because of the chemicals released.
Management and Mitigation of Industrial Accidents:
i. Factories, boilers and industries should be strictly regulated so that all safety guidelines are met.
ii. Industries should be set up far away from residential areas.
iii. The towns and villages in the surrounding areas should be made aware of precautions to be taken and what they should look out for in case of industrial accidents.
iv. Sufficient warning systems should be in place so that least damage is done.