Hardly a day goes by without the news of a natural disaster which has affected some part of the world being reported. Going by the various incidence taking place around the world it certainly seems as if the numbers and the frequency in which such natural disasters occur are increasing rapidly. Global warming is definitely a major contributory factor for most of these disasters. The changing weather conditions experienced in our country alone are strong enough evidence as to the impact global warming has had on climatic conditions everywhere. The torrential rain, strong winds and lightning which are common during the Monsoon seasons seems to be getting worse with each passing year, with the damage and death caused by them too increasing.

Natural disasters are striking many parts of the world today and we need to be more alert to the causes of such disasters and the dangers that come along with them. We are responsible for what's happening all around us. The chain reaction our careless acts have led to, is incredible. When we pollute the environment, cut down trees and destroy natural habitats, we little realise the harm we do to Mother Nature and the ecological balance of the Earth. Every individual act may seem so harmless when considered separately, but when taken collectively, the impact is tremendous.

Global warming is increasing at dangerous levels making Planet Earth, a ticking time bomb. It is not only the atmosphere and the surface that gets hot but also the core of the Earth, leading to many natural disasters. Perhaps the loud noises and the cracking of rocks in Maho has everything to do with global warming. One geologist has not ruled out the possibility of volcanic activity while another says that mercury levels have risen inside the Earth in that area. There have been some reports of cracks in the earth and also some buildings in various other parts too from time to time. May be Mother Nature is angry and getting ready to strike back....

What happens when Mother Nature unleashes her fury? Natural disasters take place of course. You may be aware that natural disasters are all natural hazards that affect the environment leading to economic and human loss. They may be land, weather fire or water related or even health and food related. Land related natural disasters include earthquakes, avalanches, lahars and volcanic eruptions while weather related disasters include tornadoes, blizzards, cyclonic storms, droughts, hurricanes, mud slides and heatwaves. Water related disasters are floods and of course tsunamis. Fire too leads to many disasters and bush fires or wild fires are a major threat to life and property. And if you are wondering what the health related natural disasters are, they are the various diseases that spread causing epidemics where millions of people contract the disease and eventually die. A food related disaster is a famine which actually occurs following a severe drought.

Miru

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Deaths and chaos

Natural disasters are occurring frequently in many parts of the globe today. Some of them are happening in countries which have had no such incidents for ages. How lucky we in Sri Lanka are to be spared the natural disasters some countries face. I was reminded of this fact, when I read news items like these in the newspapers recently.

Death toll tops 145 in Brazil's flooding

Flooding continues to paralise Rio

Quake rocks Mexico

Major quake hits Indonesia

These were news items in the first ten days of April. Then, there was that horrible earthquake in Haiti, in the Caribbean Sea, in January that flattened parts of the country's capital and left the President homeless.

The biggest disaster we Sri Lankans faced in over 100 years was the tsunami of 2004. We have had major floods, severe droughts for two to three months strong gales and even a cyclone that did much damage in the Eastern Province in 1978.

Except for the tsunami, these were minor disasters compared to the continuous rain in Brazil and the quake in Haiti which killed more than all the people killed by the tsunami in countries round the Indian Ocean.

Here is what the newspapers reported about these natural disasters. Details are given here so that you'll know the extent and the sort of damage done. When we do not treat Mother Nature properly she unleashes her fury.

Rains in Rio

Rains kept pouring down on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second largest city and its neighbour across the bay, from late Monday morning, April 5. Residents and those going to work were stranded in flooded streets. Some motorists abandoned their partly submerged cars and others were stranded for hours inside stalled vehicles.

The rains continued for five days. Newspapers reported that this was the heaviest rain in 48 years.

Part of a hillside on the other side of the bay collapsed into a shanky town. Mud slides swept away shacks in Rio's hillside.Most people died in mud slides. About 180 people worked throughout the night searching for survivors under piles of mud covered rubble and twisted metal.By the weekend the number of dead was estimated as 219 at least.

Earthquake hits Mexico

An earthquake struck Mexico at 3 pm on Sunday April 4. The quake was so strong reading at 7.2 magnitude on the richter scale that homes were rocked as far away as Los Angeles in the USA.

In Mexicali and other towns near the epicentre of the quake, walls and roofs cracked, buildings collapsed or partly collapsed, but no deaths were reported. Mexicali's water tank gave way. The hospital was partly damaged and patients were being treated in tents.

As the epicentre of the quake was in a rural farming area where few people lived, the deaths were only two but 230 were injured. Farmers' homes, schools and churches collapsed. Irrigation canals burst resulting in extensive flooding.

The quake also pushed up water from underground making the area a muddy mess. Many homes and schools were bogs. The landscape was like a checker board with huge pools of water separated by dry patches. The road connecting the villages to Mexicali could not be used because it was torn apart in many places.

Panic in Indonesia

A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the northern end of Sumatra early Wednesday, April 7 causing widespread panic. Residents in the area said they felt the Earth shudder for about a minute at around 5 pm. At least five people were injured. There were tsunami warnings.

This was in Aceh Province, the areas devastated by the massive tsunami of 2004.The Government issued a tsunami warning immediately but it was lifted two hours later. Thailand also issued a tsunami warning and asked the people in coastal areas to evacuate to a safe place as there was a high risk of a tsunami on the Andaman coast. The warning was cancelled later.

China cremates quake dead

While we in Sri Lanka were celebrating the New Year, on April 14, an earthquake struck China's Qinghai province in the remote Tibetan planteau. Jeigu town was shattered. The wood and mud huts fell down killing or injuring the inmates. The brick and mortar buildings were heavily damaged while some collapsed.

The official death toll was 1300. The injured numbered 11,000 of them 1200 seriously. On April 17 three days after the quake, more than 400 were missing.Hundreds of dead bodies were piled on massive funeral pyres outside Jeigu town, and cremated by Bikkhus chanting religious stanzas.

More than 100 after shocks continued to rock the area and on Saturday morning a quake with a magnitude of 5.1 was felt about 100 km from Jeigu town.

Rescue workers were pulling dead bodies from underneath the rubble, or bringing relief supplies to the injured. Another sad and unfortunate thing happened. Many at least 200 trained rescue workers were forced to leave because they were suffering from altitude sickness. The weather was freezing cold and there was a lack of oxygen at that altitude (height) of 400 metres.

Ash cloud over Europe

On the morning of April 14 a volcano erupted in South east Iceland puffing out ash and smoke that went in waves mor than 6000 metres up in the sky. Iceland is a few degrees west of the Greenwich Meridian, so though this happened on 14 morning it was some hours after the quake in China.

Massive ash clouds moving south and south east gradually spread across Europe. On Friday more smoke spewed out of the volcano. By then the ash cloud stretched from the Atlantic to Moscow (west-east) and north-south from the Arctic to Bulgaria in south east Europe.The ash cloud turned northern and western Europe into a no flying zone. Airports in 18 countries in Europe were closed and flights cancelled. Thousands of holiday makers, travellers on business, diplomats or missions were stranded. Importers and exporters were hard hit. Even those holidaying in Sri Lanka were stranded as some flights to Europe were cancelled.

By April 19 flights from Sri Lanka commenced. There were about 800 British nationals and about 500 German nationals stranded in Sri Lanka. In addition there were other nationals.

-Sumana Saparamadu

Spewing ash....

The recent eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Icelandic for "island-mountain glacier" over two- hundred years were the result of a sequence of major volcanic activity. The volcano last erupted during the last glacial period and most recently from 1821 to 1823 became active again this year on March 20 and April 14.It started spewing ash again a few days ago.

The glacier covers an area of about 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi). The south end of the mountain was once part of the island's Atlantic coastline, but over thousands of years the sea retreated some five kilometres (3.1 mi), with the former coastline now consisting of sheer cliffs with many waterfalls, of which the best known is Skógafoss.