|
| all news articles | by topics |
|
news
articles about singapore's wild places
|
| Reuters
AlertNews, 19 Jan 05 Expert wisdom: A collection of quotes on disasters KOBE, Japan (AlertNet) - Our intrepid correspondent, Tim Large, solicits key quotes from heavy hitters at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan, on topics ranging from the sorry state of tsunami-ravaged farmland in Indonesia to the U.S. delegation’s fear that the issue of climate change could distort debate on disaster prevention. Geert van der Linden, vice president of the Asian Development Bank, on the Indian Ocean tsunami damage to farmland in Indonesia: The tsunami has not just caused a lot of physical damage, but over a two kilometre zone it has really caused the land to be degraded significantly, and the question is whether any farming is possible in the next year, two years, three years. It may not be possible. The population that used to live here, in order to survive, may need to be relocated a bit away from the coast. van der Linden on the challenge of resettling disaster survivors and building new infrastructure: It’s much more straightforward to repair a railway line in the same place it was than to develop completely new settlement areas. And on the importance of education in disaster preparedness: Many people reported that just before the tsunami hit they saw the sea water recede. The president of the Asian Development Bank is 70 years old, and he told me that in his childhood, as children in Japan, those who lived near the coast were warned that if the sea recedes, run away as fast as you can. But it was clear that in the tsunami in December, very few people knew that or remembered that, and realised that actually this was very dangerous. So there are all sorts of things, at a very basic level . . . that can be done to be prepared for natural disasters. Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organisation, on the WMO’s goal of reducing death tolls by half over the next decade through better early warning and risk reduction: More than 90 percent of deaths are due to hydro-meteorological disasters, and we believe that we can reduce that number by half. Hazards will always remain, but they don’t need to turn into disasters if appropriate measures are taken. Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, on the link between climate change and disasters: Climate change is not a movie or science fiction development. It is calculable. It is already happening. (The result is) the short-term increase of extreme weather conditions. It is not only a quantitative increase. It is also a qualitative increase. The amplitude of those extreme weather conditions is higher. So we have more and more intensive storms, hurricanes and cyclones. We have more intensive flooding with very heavy raining. We have more intensive droughts. Toepfer on the necessity of early warning systems for so-called technical hazards, such as chemical accidents and nuclear meltdowns: We must be aware that in terms of preparedness, especially on the local level, the more technical oriented disasters must have the same attention. We must have the same warning system. We must have the same preparedness, and education of the people. And on the destruction of coral reefs and mangrove swamps in some areas struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami that may have worsened the devastation of the killer waves: You have to use the environment (to help prevent) natural disasters. The conviction has grown that we need the integration of nature in the early warning system. Mark Lagon, deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of International Organisation Affairs, U.S. State Department, on why the U.S. delegation has sought to eliminate references to climate change in the draft outcome document of the World Disaster Reduction Conference: Variability of climate is quite relevant to natural disasters. Clearly talking about climate is pertinent here, but it’s well known that there are controversies about the issue of climate change, about the Kyoto Protocol in other venues of the U.N. It’s our desire that this controversy not distract from this conference. Our only suggestion is let’s not let something which has been a legitimate, serious, substantive debate about how to grapple best with climate change to skew a very important conference. Matters of climate change and environment are certainly pertinent to the kinds of hazards that exist today, and the United States would not deny that. Lagon on the use of the U.S. military in tsunami relief: Every country beyond its own share of world GDP has something it can offer. As it happens, the United States has a pretty substantial military capacity, one of lift and so on. And the United States is very willing to apply that when welcome for humanitarian efforts. The United States pledged $350 million dollars for tsunami relief, but on top of that every day the United States, it’s been calculated, spends about $6 million on the application of its military assets toward tsunami relief. links Related articles on Tsunami and the environment |
| News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes. | |
website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com |