The Myanmar Disaster
On the third of May the country of Myanmar was hit by a devastating cyclone which caused wide spread damage resulting in a death toll estimated by some sources to be in excess of 100,000 people. Outbreaks of bacterial, water or mosquito borne illnesses are also a likely consequence that will undoubtedly lead to more deaths. Also as you might have read or seen on the news the ruling military government is not making it easy, if not impossible, for aid to be adequately distributed, which will contribute to the already dire situation.
Those of you who have read this column on previous occasions (hopefully there are some regulars) might wonder why a humanitarian crisis is featuring in the often, scientific based environmental column. Well the fact is that the usual scientific based and some-what reserved ranting, often accompanied by warnings about our current destructive lifestyles, has been neatly highlighted by the Myanmar disaster.
Much of the primary and now secondary damage occurring in Myanmar
can be attributed to one of our old favourites; CLIMATE CHANGE.
Unfortunately climate change has become a bit of a catch phrase that is
often ignored or swept under the carpet. Governments, such as ours, are
in fact being rather superficial about actually making a commitment to
sustainability and improving the climate change situation. Case in
point: The expansion of coal and dairy industries by state owned
enterprises. Go double standards!!! However I will save another whole
column for that discussion.
The primary damage in Myanmar is a direct result of an extreme
weather event, one of the effects of climate change that has been
mentioned here on a previous occasion. Another recent example of a
catastrophic natural disaster is hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans
less than three years ago. These sorts of events are most likely going
to become more frequent and severe.
The secondary damage mentioned comes largely in the form of food
shortage and aid. Rice prices have gone up globally by 50 percent in
the last two months as a direct result of increased fertiliser cost,
but also climate change. Evidence from the International Rice Research
Institute suggests that with every 1 degree increase in growing season
minimum temperature, rice yield decreases by as much as 10 percent. The
high cost of rice, which is the staple in Asia, means that aid cost is
greatly exacerbated making it extremely difficult for aid agencies to
provide enough food for the estimated 2 million survivors of the
cyclone, many of whom are now homeless.
In summation, although we all think we are far removed from this
disaster, we are in fact part of it. We, the mass consuming first world
countries, are the major cause of this climate change induced
catastrophe. As a result we are in someway responsible. Fortunately we
don’t have to feel helpless, we can do something through many of the
conveniently set up donation funds through agencies such as Oxfam and
the Red Cross. Also considering the exorbitant fuel prices, you have
never had a better excuse to get out that old ten speed and start
pedalling or jumping on the bus or train.
To donate: http://www.oxfam.org.nz/index.asp
http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate.cfm
For a sweet bike: www.trademe.co.nz
Subscribe to this comment's feed