We Must Stop Calling These Events 'Natural' Disasters...

UNISDR WE MUST STOP CALLING THESE EVENTS 'NATURAL' DISASTERS... The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Yeb Sano, Philippines' lead negotiator at the UN Climate Change Convention (COP19) 9 November Science tells us that climate change and the warming of the oceans will mean more intense tropical storms; more destructive events such as super typhoon Haiyan will be the new norm. Wind speed = 213km/h 7 November Wind speed = 315km/h Path of cyclone and classification O Typhoon Super typhoon Haiyan has shown that a stronger post-2015 international agreement on disaster risk is needed to reduce both the vulnerability and exposure of people and assets. • Super Typhoon $1.7 billion 6083 The human and economic cost from tropical 7.6m storms in the Philippines from 1990 to 2012 4m Total damage (USD) mber of people killed $932 million ЦАМА Reported storm surge height vs. average 2-story house 2039 Top wind speed of cyclones (km/hour) 1854 1805 782 $275 million Mitch 287 Katrina 1218 $235 million 1242 278 Nargis 213 737 819 583 Sandy 175 186 Haiyan F1 car 315 386 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Data source: EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database (accessed on 13 November 2013) /UNOCHA / UNISYS / Find out more about UNISDR: http://www.unisdr.org