Introduction
Natural Disaster: It is defined as naturally extreme events with adverse impacts occurring due to the natural processes of the Earth. Examples of natural disasters are hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami floods, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, etc.
Other than natural processes of the Earth, human activities are also responsible for triggering natural disasters such as storms, wildfires, droughts, floods, etc.
As the temperature of the earth is rising, the incidents of natural disasters activated by climate change are also increasing. The storms are more intense than before and extreme weather is causing droughts.
Also read: Global Warming – Causes, Effects, and Solutions
The heat in the atmosphere causes more water evaporation and a warmer ocean surface that acts as fuel for catastrophic storms. The wind speeds in tropical storms get stronger due to warmer ocean surface temperature and increased heat in the atmosphere. The rising sea levels are dangerous for peak areas. The weather storms along with strong waves show corrosive effects on coastal land areas.
The world is facing many environmental issues right now due to anthropogenic activities.
The increasing natural disasters due to climate change are briefly described below.
1. Wildfires
Wildfires are considered a natural disaster. However, the weather changes such as dry and hot environmental conditions provide a favorable atmosphere to wildfires. Bushfire is a type of wildfire and adversely impacting the environment. To know more: Global Heat Wave and Wildfires – Causes, Effects, Solutions.
2. Droughts and Desertification
The changes in precipitation patterns and increasing surface temperature of Earth can lead to droughts and desertification. The heat in the atmosphere is causing more water evaporation from soil and water bodies leaving behind extremely dry land. For more info, read: Climate Change Is Increasing Water Scarcity Around The World and Desertification – Causes, Effects, and Solutions
3. Pests and Diseases
Climate change is also responsible for spreading pests and diseases. The mortality rate among pests decreases due to warmer weather. The pesticides are not effective during warmer weather thus leading to pests and diseases.
4. Hurricanes
Storms such as hurricanes and cyclones are becoming more intense due to the warmer ocean surface and increased heat in the atmosphere.
5. Floods, Flash Floods and GLOF
Extreme weather events induced by climate change are likely causing frequent floods. The factors that are responsible for disastrous floods include longer duration of precipitation, repetitive and intense precipitation. To know more: Flash Floods – Causes, Effects, Prevention and Management.
You might also like to read: How to Reduce Disastrous Impacts of Floods? – Mitigation Methods
Conclusion
The agriculture sector and farmers are most vulnerable to natural disasters induced by climate change. Due to changing environmental conditions the food security is becoming a prevalent issue in developing countries. Extreme weather events are happening due to anthropogenic activities. Since the industrial revolution, the temperature of the earth is kept on rising due to the increased emission of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases are causing global warming ultimately leading to climate change.
Food waste is also contributing to greenhouse gases emissions; check out this article about Top 15 Countries with Highest Percentage of Food Waste
Recommendation
It is recommended that the world must adopt strategies that will help to reduce the impacts caused by climate change. Clean green technology, renewable energy sources, and less dependence on fossil fuel might prove to be the possible solutions. Because natural disasters have no solution but the preventive measures can be taken.
Also check out: These 11 Countries Risk Instability Due To Climate Change
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