More than half the world's population is at risk of some natural disaster. A report produced by researchers from several organizations and institutions - from Columbia University at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and the World Bank - draws the map of tragedies announced, a world map marked by the "hotspots", the hot spots that are exposed to nature's most violent events: earthquakes , volcanic eruptions, cyclones, droughts and floods as well.
According to the report - titled Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis - are 3.4 billion people living in critical areas, ie where the "fury of the elements" could strike with significant results. Among the countries most in danger, Taiwan stands out, a candidate to win the sad scepter of the area with highest percentage of population (73 percent) at risk of two or three different cataclysms. But even in Bangladesh, Nepal, Dominican Republic, Burundi, Haiti, Malawi, El Salvador and Honduras, 90 percent of population living in areas where incumbent upon one or two natural tragedies.
More generally - but the report does not record that the obvious - are the poorest nations in the developing world to have more difficulty in absorbing the impact and the devastating effects of environmental catastrophes, eventually bogged down in a vicious circle of poverty and vulnerability. "With the cycle of natural disasters that repeats itself every few years - said Maxx Dilley, a researcher at the Earth Institute and co-author of the study - in developing countries are in a vicious cycle of destruction and reconstruction, without the ability to go forward and achieve sustainable development. We recommend that the international community manage disaster risk as an integral part of a development plan and not just as a humanitarian emergency. "
Source: The Earth Institute
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