natural disasters in nepal and their impact essay

Nepal Landslides and Floods 2021

In late June 2021, heavy rainfall caused a series of flash floods, landslides, and debris flows across Nepal, killing 18 people and leaving 21 more still missing according to media reports . Several people were forced from their homes in the Sindhupalchowk district as the Bhotekoshi river overflowed, and the Tatopani border point has remained closed since June 19 as the river flooded roadways in the Larcha and Kodari Bazaar areas. In Kanchanpur, the Mahakali river wiped out an under-construction bridge on June 19 as well, contributing to the ongoing loss of crucial infrastructure throughout the country. So far, the disasters have led to billions of dollars’ worth of losses to Nepal.

The NASA Earth Applied Sciences Disasters program area activated efforts to monitor the flooding and landslides in Nepal using Earth-observing data to assist in risk reduction, response, and recovery efforts. The program established a Core Team that met on June 23 to respond to imagery requests from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ( ICIMOD ). Currently, the Disasters program is working to produce images of the area before and after the disaster.

The NASA ROSES A.37 research projects “ Integrating SAR Data for Improved Resilience and Response to Weather-Related Disasters , Enabling Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction and Response throughout the disaster life cycle with a multi-scale toolbox Project ,” and “ Global Rapid Damage Mapping System with Spaceborne SAR Data Project ” are providing support for the disaster response.

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Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Nepal.

• Climate Change Overview
• Country Summary
• Climatology
• Trends & Variability
• Mean Projections (CMIP6)
• Extreme Events
• Historical Natural Hazards
• Sea Level Rise

Historical Hazards

Nepal’s diverse geo-climatic system, which combines heavy monsoons, steep terrain, and remoteness, renders the country vulnerable to natural disasters. The impact of disasters is pronounced in marginal populations, who are already hampered by poverty and disempowerment. Nepal is most at risk to floods, including Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFS), landslides, droughts, and waterborne diseases. 

This section provides a summary of key natural hazards and their associated socioeconomic impacts in a given country. It allows for a quick evaluation of most vulnerable areas through the spatial comparison of natural hazard data with development data, thereby identifying exposed livelihoods and natural systems.

The charts provide overview of the most frequent natural disaster in a given country and understand the impacts of those disasters on human populations.

Climate change is now recognized to have a significant impact on disaster management efforts and pose a significant threat to the efforts to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable populations. The demands of disaster risk management are such that concise, clear, and reliable information is crucial. The information presented here offers insight into the frequency, impact and occurrence of natural hazards. Source (PDF)

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Natural disasters in Nepal and the impact on water, energy and human security

As a president of the newly-formed Nepalese Student Association at the University of Arizona (UA), Bhuwan Thapa – a PhD student in the School of Geography and Development – is working to build strong UA engagement in earthquake recovery by raising funds and relief items, and through the study of both natural hazards (particularly in Nepal), and of the human responses and adaptations to such events.

Thapa recently received a three-year Graduate Research Training Grant from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD, based in Kathmandu, Nepal) under its Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) initiative, to work on the project: ‘Pathways to resilience: Adaptation in agriculture and water management to changing climate in the Gandaki River Basin.’

Robert G. Varady, deputy director of the UA Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and director of the UA component of IWSN, interviewed Thapa about recent events in Nepal and how it has affected his work.

IWSN: You recently received a very prestigious doctoral research grant from ICIMOD in Nepal, but just four weeks after you learned of this award, a 7.8 earthquake struck your home city of Katmandu and the Gandaki River Basin that is the focal point of your proposed research. What has been your personal reaction to the devastation caused by the earthquake?

Thapa: The event has been a historical calamity for the country in all aspects, including human casualities and structural damage. More than 8,000 lives have been lost, and the number is expected to go up to 20,000 as government crews reach the unattended damaged areas in villages that can only be accessed by hours of walking. Thousands of people are mentally and physically traumatised by this event – with a significant loss to family life, social networks, and the human workforce of the country. Already, the massive migration of adult males to urban centres in Nepal and to other nations – such as India and Middle Eastern, African, and other Asian countries – has left rural villages with a diminished pool of labour, causing problems for rescue, relief, and recovery phases after the disaster. Nonetheless, the Nepalese people, local communities, and non-governmental organisations – with support from the Nepal Army and Police – have been working to fill this vacuum. This effort of helping each other is definitely a strength as we walk on the path of recovery. I am dismayed, however, that another major earthquake of 7.3 magnitude has happened nearly two weeks after the main quake of 1 May. People are already stressed, and these large-scale recurrent shocks only compound the high level of trauma.

IWSN: The earthquake has resulted in massive damage to the infrastructure in Nepal and particularly in your study area. What is your understanding about the damage and how do you think this will affect your research?

Thapa: The earthquake has caused significant impairment to all types of infrastructure and basic services. As of 11 May, USAID had reported that nearly 300,000 houses were destroyed and some 250,000 houses damaged. The subsequent earthquake, with its epicentre near the Mt. Everest region, demolished many houses that were on the verge of collapse as a result of the more than 130 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 or greater since the first major event of 25 April. Large cracks, up to several metres in length, are seen in the valley roads, and frequent landslides are destroying houses and creating road blockages. In Sindhupalchowk (see photo), one of the worst hit areas, nearly all of the schools have been damaged.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority, at least 14 existing hydropower dams have been damaged causing reduction in production capacity by up to 30%. Although the damage to agriculture and the region’s irrigation systems has not yet been assessed, we can expect major destruction of rural market places, irrigation canals, and food-collection centres – all of which threatens the food security of the region.

Many World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu Valley also have been destroyed by the earthquake. I viewed video footage of a large-scale landslide that occurred near Dhulikhel Hospital, which is about 20 miles east of Kathmandu City. Erosion, and these immense landslides, will worsen as Nepal receives its annual monsoon rains in about a month. I cannot imagine what the situation will be for millions of people living in poorly-built tents under a downpour that continues for days over a two-to-three month period.

Following this earthquake, I will modify some of my research questions. While I have wanted to understand the adaptation in water-resources management by small farmers and the implications of their actions on water security, I now realise the absolute necessity of incorporating the risk perspective. There are many timely questions that have risen on my research agenda, such as recognising the pathways of recovery in irrigation systems by assessing the social, cultural and behavioral factors that have made some villagers resilient to after-shocks events.

IWSN: The theme of your research is on adaptation and agricultural water security. In what ways do you think the earthquake and its aftermath are affecting the availability of sufficient quantities of good-quality water for residents?

Thapa: There is enormous destruction of infrastructure for basic services including roads, water supply, irrigation and hospitals. There is a shortage of drinking water in cities such as Kathmandu and affected rural areas, because the water delivery systems and the water taps in the houses have been completed destroyed (see photo). Many underground water supply pipes are broken, causing water leakages and contamination. The French Embassy has built a drinking-water treatment plant – with a maximum capacity of 200,000 litres per day – as an alternate system of water supply to the municipal water-service provider in the capital. The destruction is most severe in rural areas where very little infrastructure has withstood the shocks.

IWSN: Has this catastrophe changed your notions of how we should think about water security?

Thapa: UN-Water [the confederation of the water divisions of 31 UN agencies] defines water security as safeguarding quality and quantity of water for various human and environmental needs and ensuring protection from pollution and natural disasters. While much of the discussion on water security to date has focused on water quality and quantity, as this earthquake has clearly demonstrated, the water insecurity resulting from natural disasters can be very substantial and of long duration. With climatic change and variability, we are likely to see more natural disasters and hence more disaster-induced water insecurity.

Stakeholder perspectives on landslide triggers and impacts in five countries

• Technical Note
• Open access
• Published: 13 May 2024

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• Safiyeh Tayebi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-9989 1 , 2 ,
• Md. Akib Jabed 3 ,
• Ana Lorena Ruano 4 ,
• Gwenyth O Lee 1 , 5 ,
• Paula F. da Silva 6 ,
• Saleh Ahmed 7 ,
• Edier V. Aristizábal G. 8 ,
• Ranjan Kumar Dahal 9 ,
• Arezoo Soltani 10 ,
• Mohammad Imran Khan 11 ,
• Md. Atiqur Rahman 12 ,
• M Ashraful Islam 13 , 14 &
• Ubydul Haque 1 , 5  

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Expert perspectives drive landslide mitigation and post-disaster policy planning. This study examines landslide risk perceptions among the stakeholders (government officials, academics, policy experts, local community representatives, and representatives of NGOs/civil society) across Brazil, Colombia, Nepal, Iran, and Pakistan, identifying both shared concerns and local heterogeneity. Key informants revealed a discrepancy in their degree of concern about landslides, with government officials exhibiting greater apprehension compared to local community representatives. Local community representatives incorrectly perceived landslides to be the result of natural phenomena. In contrast, governmental and academic stakeholders felt that human-induced triggers, specifically those related to land use and land cover change, were significant contributors to landslide occurrences, necessitating stringent law enforcement. The comprehensive impacts of landslides included economic losses, infrastructure disruption, agricultural losses, and food security concerns, underscoring the multifaceted nature of this hazard. Our results suggest the need for proactive citizen engagement in landslide monitoring, recognizing the importance of local contexts. We end by proposing a dual-pronged policy approach that emphasizes the socio-economic context of each region.

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Introduction

Climate change is causing global concern due to shifting precipitation patterns, rising temperatures, and an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. These changes are unfolding at an alarming rate (Olaoluwa et al. 2022 ; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)  2023 ). Extreme weather events related to climate change cause devastation worldwide, particularly in the densely populated and climate-vulnerable Global South (Abbass et al. 2022 ). Landslides, one such hazard, occur in multiple parts of the world and have significant impacts on human health and livelihoods (Jakob 2022 ; Nefros et al. 2023 ). Among natural disasters, landslides are the fourth leading cause of human mortality (Mertens et al. 2016 ). Between 1995 and 2014, 3876 landslides caused a total of 163,658 deaths and 11,689 injuries worldwide (Haque et al. 2019 ).

To address this natural hazard, global documents such as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports, the Paris Agreement, the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-203, and the Kyoto 2020 Commitment for Global Promotion of Understanding and Reducing Landslide Disaster Risk emphasize multi-level and comprehensive risk reduction measures (Aitsi-Selmi et al. 2016 ; Handmer et al. 2019 ; Alcántara-Ayala and Sassa 2021 ; IPCC  2021 ). The key principle highlighted in these measures is the inclusion of all levels of society to build resilience (Samuel and Cornforth 2019 ). However, developing these joint societal efforts is not straightforward. The commitment, intention, knowledge, experience, and resources of all stakeholders are crucial (Matsuoka and Gonzales Rocha 2020 ). There is also a need to elevate the role of local and scientific knowledge for disaster risk reduction (DRR) as well as disaster risk management through enhanced communication and the appropriate use of participatory methods. Effective landslide mitigation strategies, such as modifying slope geometry, using chemical or biochemical agents to reinforce slope material, installing structures, such as anchors, piles, and retaining walls, grouting rock joints and fissures, diverting debris pathways, and rerouting surface and underwater drainage (Dnr 2019 ; Mertens et al. 2016 ; Perera et al. 2018 ; Ferreira et al. 2022 , Sharma et al. 2024 ) require a strong understanding of both local geography and local risk (Ndlela 2019 ; Shayan et al. 2022 ). Community representatives play a particularly crucial role in hazard reduction through the preparation of risk maps and the monitoring of landslide movement (Klimeš et al. 2019a , b ). To enhance resilience, a comprehensive understanding of local perceptions, alongside a scientific and accurate understanding of risk, is vital for integrated planning and public awareness (Alrawad et al. 2023 ; Keating 2020 ).

While quantitative studies have extensively explored the impacts of landslides in various countries (Linnerooth-Bayer et al. 2016 ; Spegel and Ek 2022 ), fewer have investigated divergent perspectives on landslides among government officials, academics, and community representatives. Our transregional, cross-cultural comparative analysis of stakeholders’ perceptions and actions on landslides in selected countries aims to uncover whether policymakers align their actions with local knowledge and perceptions, examining their insights into community understanding and awareness initiatives.

This study was conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Nepal, Iran, and Pakistan engaging diverse stakeholder groups to explore the comprehensive impacts, outcomes, and challenges associated with mitigating landslide risks.

Material and methods

Conceptual framework

Drawing upon the latest literature and seminal risk reduction documents, this study employs a conceptual framework based on a hierarchical understanding of landslide risk reduction, with a specific emphasis on stakeholder engagement and public participation (Fig. 1 ).

Five countries were selected for this based on their varying levels of vulnerability, economic status, and different climates, all of which contribute to landslide vulnerability and impacts (Fig. 2 ). Each country possesses distinctive natural characteristics that add complexity to the observed landslides in these regions, combined with socio-economic and cultural factors.

Location of the five countries under-study on the Global Landslide Hazard map (World Bank 2021 )

With its vast territory and diverse morphology, Brazil experiences a wide range of geological formations and dynamic climate patterns. The country reported 2544 deaths and injuries by 62 landslides from 1995 to 2014 (Haque et al. 2019 ). According to the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), floods and landslides are the disasters with the highest number of victims, the greatest total cost, and greatest total losses as a percentage of GDP (Toro et al. 2014 ).

Characterized by geological complexity and varied terrain, Colombia experiences a significant number of landslides (Grima et al. 2020 ). According to the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) of Colombia, and the Unified Global Landslide Database (UGLD), Colombia had the highest number of landslides (10,393) and fatalities (35,686) between 1903 and 2020 (Gómez et et al. 2023 ). Specifically, there were 1105 causalities in 44 landslides during the period 1995 to 2014 (Haque et al.  2019 ).

Located in the Himalayan region, Nepal frequently experiences landslides due to its unique blend of dynamic geological features, morphology, and the risk of extreme weather events (Dahal and Hasegawa 2008 ). The country ranks seventh in human casualties from floods, landslides, and avalanches. Nepal’s susceptibility to landslides is further compounded by seismic activity, low soil quality, erosion, and slope instability (He et al. 2023 ). Between 1995 and 2014, a total of 3492 people died or were injured in 236 recorded landslide events (Haque et al. 2019 ).

Iran’s geology and climatic patterns underscore the importance of addressing landslides within its borders. Approximately 20% of Iran’s land areas are highly or very highly susceptible to landslides (Ngo et al. 2021 ). The National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO) identified a total of 147 death and injuries during 20-year period from 1995 to 2014 (Haque et al. 2019 ).

Finally, Pakistan, known for its rugged terrain, active seismicity, monsoon rains, and other geohazards, frequently experiences landslides with significant impacts on the economy and society (Ali et al. 2019 ; Khan et al. 2019 ). According to the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), around 100,000 people were either killed or injured by 114 landslides between 1995 and 2014 (Haque et al. 2019 ). Table 1 summarizes the effects of landslide events and the most important triggers between 1995 and 2014 according to Haque et al. ( 2019 ).

Identifying key informant interview (KII) concepts and participants

To develop our interview guide, we first convened a panel of six experts from diverse backgrounds, including geology, urban planning, disaster expert, climate change, environmental engineering, and urban climatology (including authors Ubydul Haque and Safiyeh Tayebi). The panel was tasked with selecting, rating, and weighing the most important concepts related to landslides in the five mentioned countries (Table 1 ). The results were used to develop a KII guide, which was subsequently used in data collection.

Data Collection

Data were collected between May and July 2023. The final guide included eleven key questions (Table S3 ), supplemented by sub-questions, supporting the ability of participants to provide comprehensive insights into landslides.

A total of 28 government officials, policy experts, academics, NGO/Civil society representatives, and local community representatives participated in the study (Tables S1 and S2 ). The selection criteria included expertise or work related to landslides, policy experience, relevance to the study subject, and willingness to engage in detailed discussions. Interviews were conducted on Zoom platform, a collaborative video conferencing service that ensures a secure, recordable, online meeting platform. The interviews were conducted in Persian, Urdu, or English (i.e., in the native language of the country except in Brazil and Nepal).

Data analysis

We conducted a content analysis of interview data, using QSR NVivo Version 12.2 software. Our three-stage analysis process included (i) line-by-line coding of the text for meaning and context, (ii) use of the interpretive description method (Hanson et al. 2017 ) to pinpoint or delineate illustrative themes and create code groups that identified patterns and dominant concepts, and (iii) the generation of analytic themes that identify abstract messages (Saldana 2021 ). Throughout this process, themes and sub-themes were collaboratively discussed by the authors to ensure a deeper understanding of the participants’ words and ideas, ultimately enriching the qualitative analysis. Figure 3 presents the model adopted for this study.

Design development to collect data on landslide scenarios of five countries

Ethical considerations

The study received ethical approval from the University of North Texas Institutional Review Board (Reference Number 2022-065). Prior to the interview, participants were introduced to the study’s background and objectives and ethical information and were provided the contact details of the project investigator. Participants provided verbal consent to recorded conversations. Interviews were anonymized, and personal identifiers were not gathered. Respondents had the right to terminate their participation at any time.

Drawing from the four main concepts identified by the expert panel, our analysis of key informants’ responses identified four themes related to the level of concerns of stakeholders, main landslide triggers, impacts, and mitigation strategies in the five countries.

Theme 1: the level of concern of stakeholders about the landslides

In response to questions about concerns regarding landslides, interviewees pointed to a lack of concern among the general population and a greater concern of local governments. Government officials in all five countries mentioned laws established to reduce the risk of landslides. For instance, a Brazilian Government Official said,

In Brazil, many regions suffered disasters caused by landslides; for example, the 2011 landslide caused almost 920 deaths in the Serrana region, Rio de Janeiro. After that, the government instituted the National Civil Protection and Defense Policy, focusing on disaster risk reduction, which encompasses additional laws and investments to prevent such phenomena.

In contrast, a Nepali NGO/Civil Society representative pointed out the lack of concern of local governments, saying “There is a political economy. Immediate income and incentive, for authorities, is in harvesting resources rather than protecting hill slopes. (There is) more focus is on road construction, which has two immediate benefits – financial income from bulldozer operation, and public support for ‘development’.” The general population was perceived to be relatively unconcerned about landslides because the immediate benefits of living, working, and earning money in landslide-prone areas exceeded the perceived risk. As a result, despite feeling unsafe, many individuals did not consider landslides to be a serious enough risk to merit relocating. This issue was reflected in the statement from a local community representative from Colombia:

In the population of Antioquia, the ease of developing an economic activity leads many people to live in places with high susceptibility to landslides.

Theme 2: main triggers

Interviewees reported that landslides were triggered by a combination of natural and human factors. Across all countries, most respondents emphasized that the interplay between these factors compounded their effects. Prominent natural triggers included extreme rainfall, earthquakes, and snowmelt, while human factors included land use land cover changes and inappropriate land management. Extreme rainfall events related to climate change emerged as a prominent trigger in all countries, while earthquakes were specifically mentioned in Brazil, Nepal, and Pakistan. Academics highlighted the impact of human-induced changes more than government officials, whereas government officials emphasized long-term factors like climate change. In contrast, local community representatives and officials focused more on immediate natural factors.

Some interviewees noted that the absence of laws or enforcement measures failed to prevent man-made activities in hilly, landslide-prone regions. A forestry professor in Pakistan mentioned,

I belong to Gilgit, Pakistan; in my opinion, deforestation is the first major trigger of the landslides in this area. There are no land rules and regulations. People can construct infrastructure anywhere.

Major human activities of concern included agricultural land use and the unregulated or underregulated construction for housing. Agricultural activities contributed to landslides in various ways. In Iran, the conversion of gardens and natural forests into agricultural land made the soil more susceptible to landslides. Brazil’s agricultural and terraced areas sometimes result in drainage concentration on slopes, favoring landslide events. In Colombia, agriculture, particularly cash crops, like coffee or plantation crops, destabilized the superficial layer of soil and maintained higher moisture levels, contributing to increased landslide risk. In contrast, participants from Nepal highlighted,

…by increasing soil stability and lowering surface runoff, terracing, contour farming, and other soil conservation techniques can also help to lower the risk of landslides. Additionally, efficient irrigation system management helps avoid soil saturation and lessens the chance of landslides.

In Colombia, human activities focused on the development of unplanned settlements, transportation infrastructures, and livelihoods that act as triggers for landslides in the region. Poor surface runoff management was also described as a key landslide risk. All of these factors modified the natural conditions of the terrain, such as the slope and vegetation cover, generating greater susceptibility. In Iran, Pakistan, and Nepal, the construction of houses on the banks of rivers and hazardous slopes without proper planning was highlighted as a major concern.

Respondents from Pakistan, Iran, and Nepal advocated for rigorous law enforcement to address these risks, while those from Brazil and Colombia expressed a preference for social approaches in landslide-prone areas.

Theme 3: impacts

Although participants identified multiple impacts of landslides, impacts on agricultural products (by community representatives) and agricultural distribution systems (by academics and governmental representatives) were regarded as the most significant impact by all stakeholders, because of their effects on food insecurity and public health.

Impacts on agriculture

All participants ( n  = 28) emphasized that landslides have detrimental effects on agricultural lands, both directly through washout and indirectly through debris deposition. These impacts varied in intensity across the five countries studied. Participants also noted that landslides alter the terrain, causing erosion, loss of topsoil, and changes in soil composition, impacting soil fertility and damaging crops. Finally, landslides destroyed roads that are critical for food distribution. In all countries, most government officials mentioned food insecurity as an impact of landslides because of these effects on agricultural lands and distribution networks. A Nepali government official mentioned,

Landslides can disrupt food systems, which can raise the risk of malnutrition by causing food shortages, higher prices, and restricted access to healthy foods, especially for children, expectant and nursing mothers, and the elderly.

Additionally, a Colombian local community representative stated,

The barriers to transferring agricultural products arise due to the destruction of the roads network with debris flows.

Other economic impacts on assets and infrastructures

All key informants ( n  = 28) stressed that their countries often experienced significant economic losses and damage from landslides. An academic in Iran stated,

The old buildings are not safe enough against landslides. In the case of new buildings, although High-Performance Construction Materials are used, limited access to open spaces and limited accessibility for emergencies threaten them.

Participants from all five countries also mentioned impairment to utilities such as water and electricity infrastructures. They highlighted damage to economic networks due to disruptions in roads and other transportation infrastructure, affecting the movement of goods and people’s mobility. Large structures, like hydropower stations or dams, were also affected by the mud or debris of landslides, leading to downstream economic impacts for the general population.

Theme 4: mitigation strategies

As mentioned, one notable finding was that public and authorities tended to underestimated landslide risks. Local governments were frequently unaware of the influence of land use and land cover changes on landslide occurrence, leading to less willingness to invest in mitigation strategies. Despite this, some actions have been taken. For example, in recent years, the government of Medellín, in Colombia, has implemented several measures to mitigate the risk of landslides in the city, including sustainable land use practices, such as reforestation.

Many experts emphasized the importance of raising public awareness to mitigate landslide risks. A few advocated for the introduction or enhancement of early warning systems to reduce landslide impacts. Additionally, some participants highlighted the significance of conducting risk assessments and mapping landslide-prone areas.

In Iran, experts recommended several measures to address landslide risks exacerbated by heavy rains. These measures include improving old and deteriorating infrastructure, relocating residents from unsafe areas, employing soil stabilization techniques, implementing artificial afforestation, and adopting water management strategies.

A representative from the civil society in Nepal emphasized the importance of proactive measures,

It is difficult to reduce economic impacts once there is a landslide. We should think about it before the event hits. Some measures could be preventing/mitigating landslide risk, shifting people/settlement to safe places, avoiding landslide risk zones while building development projects/infrastructure, and managing residual risks through alert and warning.

Lack of internet access, and lack of electronic devices, handheld devices, and mobile phones, among others, also posed critical challenges to engaging citizens for landslide reduction. A respondent from Iran (academic) highlighted a lack of collaboration among authorities in landslide mitigation strategies,

The most important issue in urban management in Iran is the lack of integrated management and weak cooperation of stakeholders. Much damage to critical infrastructures could be predicted before the accident with coordinated management.

This study provides insights into landslide concerns, triggers, impacts, and mitigation strategies in Brazil, Colombia, Nepal, Iran, and Pakistan (Fig. 4 ). Our results were consistent with previous studies (Garcia-Chevesich et al. 2021 ; Sidle and Bogaard 2016 ; Nema et al. 2023 , Pacheco Quevedo et al. 2023 ) that emphasized the significance of the interaction between climate change and human activities, including deforestation, land use/land cover changes, and inadequate land management as substantial contributors to the increasing impacts of landslides.

Summary of key insights across themes

Our results also suggest that government officials are more concerned about the potential dangers of landslides compared to local communities (Table 2 ). Local community members tended to weigh the risk of landslides against the economic opportunities that could arise from living or working in a landslide-prone area. At a broader level, this household and community level cost-benefit calculation is influenced by broader economic and political forces, driven by both the public and the private sector. Although respondents highlighted laws preventing the modification of natural land cover in areas prone to landslides in their respective countries, poverty hindered the effective implementation of these laws. Addressing this issue at the local level necessitates a social approach rooted in empowerment, while addressing it at the national level demands the establishment of robust laws and their stringent enforcement (Petrisor et al. 2020 ; Verburg et al. 2019 ). For example, Xu et al. ( 2020 ) recommended re-allocating budgets to encourage local governments to invest not only in post-disaster reconstruction but also in incentivizing resident relocation. This approach aims to enhance land resilience and safeguard agricultural areas (Xu et al. 2020 ).

We also noted that most participants, including government officials, attributed landslide triggers to natural factors. In contrast, academics emphasized the exacerbation of risk stems from human activities, particularly alterations in land use and land cover. Greater awareness of the modifiable human factors that can reduce risk may promote engagement around landslide prevention, especially for governmental officials with decision-making power.

Our third theme revolved around the impacts of landslides. The perceived importance of various landslide impacts varied among different groups, with community leaders focusing on agricultural losses, and academics and government officials focusing on food system and infrastructure impacts. While prior studies acknowledge the economic, environmental, and social effects of landslides, fewer have comparatively analyzed how diverse interviewee groups perceive and understand these effects (Klose et al. 2016 ; Pazzi et al. 2019 ). Building upon these insights, our results suggest that the different priorities expressed by stakeholders may impede cooperation but could also be leveraged to emphasize shared concerns.

Our fourth theme focused on mitigation strategies. Local communities generally emphasized the importance of financial support and prompt assistance in the aftermath of a disaster, while academics leaned towards a process-oriented approach, and government officials tended to be more result-oriented. This bias is natural to some extent, given that the performance of government officials is typically assessed based on achieved results. Although all groups emphasized the importance of involving local communities to initiate planning from the grassroots level, engaging with relatively impoverished communities in these high-risk regions poses a complex challenge. Strategies that foster participation alongside empowerment may be especially valuable to overcome this difficulty (Klimeš et al. 2019a , b ; Pan et al. 2022 ). Actively involving the community in planning and implementation through a participatory approach can promote heightened awareness and resilience. Such planning signifies a mutual success for both the local inhabitants and the government.

In addition to providing insight into similarities and differences in stakeholder perspectives across different stakeholder groups, our results also highlighted similarities and differences across countries (Table 3 ). In Brazil and Colombia, the governmental response to landslides has been proactive, with comprehensive laws and policies aiming at landslide risk reduction reflecting a higher level of concern at the government level. Conversely, in Nepal, local governments have tended to prioritize immediate economic benefits over landslide mitigation. In both countries, the level of concern of governmental officials remained higher than that of local community representatives.

Similarly, while participants from all countries described the interplay between natural and human-induced factors, the emphasis on specific triggers varied. Academic and government respondents in Brazil, Iran, and Pakistan highlight climate change impacts, whereas respondents from Nepal and Colombia emphasized more immediate natural triggers and inadequate land management practices. This variation underscores the complexity of landslide triggers, which encompass both broad, long-term environmental changes and immediate, local land management practices. It emphasizes the need for a multi-faceted approach to landslide mitigation, combining immediate relief measures with long-term strategies that address the root causes of landslides, such as climate change and land use mismanagement.

This research underscores the need for a nuanced, dual-pronged policy approach to effectively address landslide risk. Recognizing that government officials perceive landslides as a major threat, we propose policy strategies that incentivize resident relocation as well as reconstruction following landslides.

Rigorous law enforcement and sustainable development practices are also required to prevent human activities that increase the risk of future landslides through changes in land use and land cover. Alongside these governmental actions, fostering citizen engagement in monitoring and proactive measures is crucial.

Thus, building global resilience to landslides requires higher-level investment and government action as well as citizen education and engagement in monitoring and proactive local measures. Effective strategies that balance reconstruction, relocation, law enforcement, and community engagement to enhance overall resilience will be critical for future developments in landslide risk reduction.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the Civil Societies representatives for taking the time to participate in this research. P. F. da Silva’s contribution was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia I.P. through the research unit GeoBioTec grant UIDP/GEO/04035/2020. Ubydul Haque and Gwenyth Lee were supported by Rutgers Global Health Institute.

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Safiyeh Tayebi, Gwenyth O Lee & Ubydul Haque

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Safiyeh Tayebi

Center for Climate Change and Environmental Health (3CEH), Asian University for Women, Chattogram, Bangladesh

Md. Akib Jabed

Center for International Health, Department of Global Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Ana Lorena Ruano

Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

Gwenyth O Lee & Ubydul Haque

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Paula F. da Silva

School of Public Service, Boise State University, Boise, ID, 83725, USA

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Safiyeh Tayebi and Ubydul Haque conceived the study design and collected data. Safiyeh Tayebi and Md. Akib Jabed analyzed data. Safiyeh Tayebi and Md. Akib Jabed drafted the initial version of the manuscript. Ana Lorena Ruano, Gwenyth Lee, Paula F. da Silva, Saleh Ahmed, Edier V. Aristizábal G., Ranjan Kumar Dahal, Arezoo Soltani, Mohammad Imran, Md. Atiqur Rahman, and M-Ashraful Islam contributed in writing. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Tayebi, S., Jabed, M.A., Ruano, A.L. et al. Stakeholder perspectives on landslide triggers and impacts in five countries. Landslides (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-024-02270-4

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Nepal’s agriculture, water resources under climate threat

Sangam Prasain

Climate change has profound impacts on Nepal’s economy, particularly on agriculture, water resources, and biodiversity, according to the latest survey report.

The National Climate Change Survey 2022, the second of its kind, was released by the National Statistics Office, formerly the Central Bureau of Statistics. It paints a stark picture of Nepal's climate change situation and urges necessary intervention for the resource-crunch Himalayan nation.

According to the survey, the economic losses in farm and off-farm in the last five years, as reported by households, excluding significant infrastructure damages, amounted to Rs415.44 billion.

Experts say worse is yet to come.

In Nepal, the number of households unaware of the consequences of climate change is significantly high.

The survey shows that many households reported adverse weather changes. They noted that their water resources dried up, new diseases infected crops, productivity losses rose, and flowering and fruiting behaviours changed over the last two and a half decades.

Major economic sectors and essential services like health and education in Nepal have felt the repercussions of extreme weather events linked to climate change, the survey said.

The statistics office said the sampling used the total number of households from the population census . In total, 6.66 million individual households were included in the frame.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews from July to March 2023 among 6,508 households in 326 primary sampling units, encompassing all seven provinces.

The statistics office said all the respondents were at least 45 years old and had lived in the survey area for 25 years, forming the sampling frame that included households meeting these criteria across Nepal.

According to the survey, over the past 25 years, approximately 50 percent of households reported the emergence of new diseases in their crops, 53.9 percent observed the presence of new insects or pests affecting their crops, and 29.8 percent of households noted the appearance of new diseases in their livestock.

Nepal’s agriculture sector is the mainstay of the country’s economy. It contributes 24.60 percent to the country's GDP and employs over half of the population. The sector is mainly rainfed and heavily dependent on rainfall.

When the rain fails to fall, the GDP takes a tumble. This dependence makes the country particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Rural areas experienced more new diseases affecting crops (55.9 percent) than urban areas (45.6 percent). The mountain region (68.7 percent), hill region (50.3 percent), and Tarai region (46.3 percent) also experienced an impact on crops due to new diseases.

The survey report shows households in altitudes between 1,500 and 2,000 metres reported emerging

new crop diseases (60.2 percent) over the last 25 years. This shows diverse factors influence the prevalence of crop diseases across diverse geographical and climatic domains.

“The situation is alarming,” said Hem Raj Regmi, deputy chief statistician at the National Statistics Office.

“The survey was intended to see people’s perception towards climate change, the most burning issue globally,” he said. Climate change literacy among people, mostly in rural areas, is shallow, but some exciting facts exist.

“Most of the farmers surveyed are not clear whether climate change is bringing diseases and low yields, but at the same time, they have a coping mechanism knowingly or unknowingly,” said Regmi.

For instance, farmers have changed the cropping pattern. “If they think rainfall will be below normal or drought, they switch to another crop.”

The survey shows that 35.8 percent of the households surveyed were aware of climate change. Across all three geographical domains, the number of households unaware of climate change is significantly high, with the highest number being in the mountain region (70.9 percent).

The sex-disaggregated data indicate that most male (61.3 precent) and female (74 percent) respondents were unaware of climate change impacts.

The accessibility of early warning information among the people is weak.

In urban municipalities, 16.3 percent of households received early-warning information, while 83.7 percent of the respondents did not receive any information regarding a disaster occurring shortly. Altitude-wise, households in low-altitude regions have received more early-warning information than those in the higher-altitude areas.

The survey results show a significant impact of climate change on Nepal's water resources over the last 25 years. Climate change has notable implications for the country's energy transition, as it is actively pursuing a shift from conventional fossil fuels to renewable and sustainable energy sources.

According to experts, the survey report is eye-opening. Nepal plans to generate 30,000MW of electricity by 2035, and the market for Nepal's hydropower is opening up in India and Bangladesh.

Many households reported adverse changes and noted their water resources dried up.

This phenomenon was observed across all domains and indicates a nationwide decrease in water availability. Respondents experienced a reduction in ground and surface water, primarily attributed to insufficient rainfall and increased drought incidents.

According to the survey, 78.3 percent of households observed a decline in rivulets and streams, and 55 percent observed a decrease in wells, springs, and stone spouts.

Likewise, 47.7 percent observed changes in water resources due to insufficient rainfall, followed by an increase in drought (20.3 percent), road construction (3.4 percent), deforestation and urbanisation (3.2 percent). In contrast, minimal respondents observed change due to population growth, earthquakes and landslides/soil erosion over the last 25 years.

The survey said that over the past 25 years, Nepal has suffered from various natural disasters. Drought has emerged as a major disaster, affecting 44.87 percent households, and floods 13.87 percent. Storms have affected 9.9 percent of households, while landslides have affected 7.81 percent.

Drought has been reported as the major disaster, affecting 65.4 percent of households, followed by diseases/insects at 54.3 percent, storms 46.2 percent, hailstorms 32.6 percent, floods 28.5 percent, cold waves 21.7 percent, landslides 21.5 percent, and inundation 17.5 percent. Thunderstorms impacted 15.7 percent of households, while occurrences of other disasters such as avalanches, GLOFs, and snowstorms were relatively lower.

Climate change has significant and wide-ranging impacts on biodiversity in Nepal, a country known for its rich and diverse ecosystems, including the Himalayan mountains, tropical forests, and wetlands.

Ten percent of households reported changes in flowering and fruiting behaviours affecting trees, shrubs, and fruiting plants, leading to reduced production and altered taste.

Some of the critical impacts of climate change on biodiversity in Nepal are shifts in species distribution, habitat loss and fragmentation, altered breeding and migration patterns, invasive species, loss of endemic species, biodiversity conservation challenges, and human-wildlife conflict. 

Sangam Prasain Sangam Prasain is Business Editor at The Kathmandu Post, covering tourism, agriculture, mountaineering, aviation, infrastructure and other economic affairs. He joined The Kathmandu Post in October 2009.

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Impact Of Disasters In Nepal

The much talked about new disaster bill is yet to be tabled in the parliament., purushotam ghimire.

Nepal’s vulnerability

Nepal lies in the central part of the Himalayan belt. Because of its location characterized by a rugged topography, very high relief, variable climate conditions, complex geographical structures with active tectonic processes and continued seismic activities, Nepal is prone to natural disasters. Obviously, the country requires a strong coping strategy and DRM to minimize the negative effects of natural disasters. But various human interventions have hastened the occurrences of natural disasters. Due to this, the vulnerable groups, mainly the poor and the marginalized people from the rural and urban areas, are facing economic hardships and bearing all kinds of burden. Insufficient knowledge on DM, emerging climate risks, low literacy rates, inadequate physical infrastructure, poor forecasting facilities and unplanned settlements have worsened the situation. Frequent problems related with the livelihoods have hit the vulnerable people the most.  Agriculture is the hardest hit sector .

Several studies have also shown that Nepal is exposed to a multitude of hydro-meteorological hazards, including floods, landslides, droughts, windstorms, hailstorms, cloudbursts, fires and epidemics. Of the 75 districts, 49 are prone to floods and/or landslides, 23 to wildfires, and one to windstorms (NDR, 2009). According to one study, Nepal is ranked the fourth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of climate change-induced hazards. A survey of 200 countries ranks Nepal in the 11 th and the 30 th places as the most vulnerable country in terms of earthquakes and floods respectively. The records between 1971 and 2010 reveal that climate-related disasters accounted for almost 25% of deaths, 84% affected by disasters, and 76% suffered economic losses. In the last 20 years, properties worth over USD 288 million, or about USD 23 million a year, have been lost.

Disasters are a serious impediment to Nepal’s development and have undermined its development efforts at poverty alleviation and their gains. Any major disaster can easily sweep out the success Nepal has gained in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) because it will hit the poor and the disadvantaged the hardest. Despite having policies, laws, institutional mechanisms and capabilities, Nepal is yet to manage disasters properly. Nepal is yet to link DRM into its national development projects and periodic five and three years’ planning. There is a wide gap in gender involvement and effective use of early warning system. Due to impacts of climate change, Nepal seems to be heading from a bad to worse situation.

Recent Disasters

Nepal is one of the 20 most disaster-prone countries in the world. The data on human mortality for the period 1971-2007 show more than 27,000 deaths, 50,000 injuries, 3,000 missing and approximately 5 million affected people. More people are killed by disasters in Nepal than in any other country in South Asia.

Due to heavy and continuous rainfall all over the country in the last two weeks of August, disaster became a national agenda from, stirring debates from grassroots level to the parliament. The landslides and floods started from Jure VDC of Sindhupalchok and Sunkoshi and after that, due to continuous rain, reached in different districts of Midwestern to Far- western regions of Nepal. The highly impacted districts of this region are Bardiya, Shurkhet, Dang, Banke, Jajarkot, Kailali, Kanchanpur and other parts of the country. Many people died, more injured and some of them are missing and about 20,000 are displaced. The major infrastructure of Babai Irrigation Project and some parts of the Sikta Irrigation were swept away and billions rupees worth of property was damaged. Floods affected people are crying, weeping, and shouting for the help for their livelihood support. Many people are in the street without any shelter and food. The situation seems to be very panicky. But this is not the first time the country has been affected by landslide, floods, riverbank cutting and others natural disaster. In the past also, a number of such incidents had happened. In September 2011, an earthquake measuring 6.9 Richter scale devastated the eastern parts of Nepal with the losses crossing an estimated 4 billion rupees. Similarly, the breaking of the Koshi embankment caused a massive damage to lives and properties in the eastern parts in 2008. The flash floods of 2009 in Kailali and Kanchanpur and landslides in Doti and Accham districts damaged infrastructure and properties of worth billions of rupees. The epidemic in Jajarkot and Rukum districts in 2009 also killed a number of people. According to a study, during the period between 1971-2010, more than 50,000 people were reportedly injured and more than 27,000 reportedly died.

The government has declared a national crisis, formally recognizing the humanitarian crisis caused by massive landslides and flooding. The parliamentary session has also been adjourned for a week. A total of 24 districts have been seriously affected by the flooding and landslides triggered by incessant monsoon rainfalls for one week. The government took various decisions under the Chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the chairman of Central Disaster Relief Committee for coordination, relief, rescue and rehabilitation. The opposition parties in the Parliament criticized the government for not taking the natural disasters seriously and not providing relief packages to the victims. The government has requested the parliament to form a high level committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister, with the leader of opposition party also in it. It shows that the government is serious about tackling the issue of disaster.

Emergency Preparedness Mechanisms

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) is a key ministry and a nodal agency for disaster management, including the emergency preparedness mechanism at the central level. The MOHA governs disaster management initiatives. There are also related regional level bodies and District Natural Disaster Relief Committees (DNDRCs).  They hold stakeholders meetings to develop preparedness plans. However, there are no disaster cells within them. There is a Central Disaster Relief Fund at the central level and its offices at the district level as well. There are also Central Natural Disaster Relief Committees and District Disaster Relief Committees. The Prime Minister’s Relief Fund is at the top. Given Nepal’s present state, the Village Development Committees (VDCs) do not have access to the funds. There is always a controversy in Damage and Needs Assessment at times of disaster. Institutions working in the sector lack coordination. According to Natural Disaster Relief Act 1982, there is a provision of a Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee chaired by the Minister of Home Affairs at the central level followed by Regional District Relief Committees at the Regional Level and District Disaster Relief Committees at the District Level to coordinate the relief and rescue operations. Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police are primarily responsible for these operations.  Nepal Red Cross society has been providing relief materials.

The emergency response mechanisms are poor at the district as well as grass root levels. Due to the one door policy of the DDRCs, rescue and rehabilitation often get delayed during the emergency response. There is a similar situation at the central level. Relief efforts are often duplicated because of the limited effectiveness of the coordination mechanism between disaster actors and government agencies or because of lack of such a mechanism. That is where there is the need of a policy level intervention.

Although National Emergency Operation Center is established under MoHA to coordinate the emergency response services and new legislation, which is hugely focused on DRM in the present context, it is in the process of finalization. This shows there is still a long way to go to make emergency preparedness mechanism more effective.

Policy frameworks

Nepal does not lack policy frameworks in disaster management. Natural disaster relief committees exist at three different levels. However, they don’t have clear roles and responsibilities.  Past experiences have shown that the regional level bodies are non-functional and policy provisions for village level NDRCs are lacking. DDRCs are widely acknowledged by various actors but their bureaucratic nature creates hurdles in the course of rescue and rehabilitation. The requirement for approval from DDRCs to start the rescue work discourages early action. Although the Local Self Governance Act 1999 gives local bodies the authority and responsibility to design and implement disaster responses, no budget is allocated to them. Although National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management in Nepal 2009 sets a road map of where Nepal intends to be by 2015-the deadline for the Hyogo Framework of Action (2005-2015 and MDGs), the government policies have yet to back it.  The government has adopted the National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management 2009 based on Hyogo Framework for Action. This new strategy includes prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.  The three-year Interim Plan 2010-2013 also highlights the DRR. However, the much talked about new Disaster Bill is yet to be tabled in the parliament.

Existing capacity

Along with District Natural Disaster Committee (DDRC), Nepal Army, Nepal Armed Police, Nepal Police, DDCs, Municipalities, VDCs, various other government offices, CBOs and NGOs have been working in DRM but they lack the capacity of responding. Existing response mechanisms are neither timely nor adequate in terms of resources to deal with disasters. The literature shows that the delay in action creates many problems, including trouble for disaster affected people. As there is a lack of one accountable agency or specific policy for undertaking search and rescue, everything is done on an ad-hoc basis. Nepal’s disaster response is still based on rescue and nobody really thinks about rehabilitation and other human parts. More complicated parts of disaster are in rehabilitation, which is tedious and time consuming.

Coordination mechanisms and its effectiveness

Several years of efforts and lessons have singled out the absence of an effective coordination mechanism as a major problem in dealing with disasters. The established mechanism and effectiveness is always lacking. Disasters involve many institutions at local and national levels but when the need arises, the absence of institutions is always felt in rescue and rehabilitation. International actors also get involved in some cases but they are more focused on policies rather than to help the needy.After disasters, the CDRC organizes meetings with government line ministries and bilateral organizations to arrange for resource mobilization and management, plans of actions and to share situation updates, and DDRCs execute the EPR work, but oftentimes, one or the other party goes out of step. Despite invoking public private partnership in times of disaster, it is yet to work, showing the need to make public private initiative strong and the role of DDCs and municipalities wider.

Mr. Ghimire, Former Joint Secretary, Expert/Resource person of CC, DRR, SDGs, participates in the climate discussion at the national and international level. He could be contacted via his email: [email protected], or [email protected]

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Children account for half of dead and injured in nepal earthquake - unicef, unicef and partners step up support to provide urgent life-saving assistance for over 200,000 people – including 80,000 children – in dire need of help.

NEW DELHI/KATHMANDU, 7 November 2023 – Almost half of those reported killed and injured in Nepal’s recent earthquake are children. The 6.4 earthquake that struck remote parts of western Nepal on 3 November has claimed 153 lives and injured more than 338 people so far, according to local authorities.

The earthquake took place while people were sleeping at night, triggering a high number of casualties. An estimated 200,000 people, including over 80,000 children are affected in Jajarkot and Rukum West, the two most affected districts. In addition, a 5.8 magnitude aftershock occurred in Jajarkot District yesterday. With continued aftershocks in the affected areas, children and families are living in constant fear.

Most homes have been damaged, along with schools, health centres and other infrastructure. The latest disaster is the largest earthquake in Nepal since two earthquakes in 2015 took the lives of nearly 9,000 people, a third of whom were children. 

“Tragically, and yet again, so many lives have been lost in this devastating earthquake. Children are disproportionately affected and are forced to spend the nights out in the cold. These children and their families are in desperate need of medical support, shelter, safe drinking water, food, blankets, and warm clothes as the winter sets in,” said Alice Akunga , UNICEF Representative to Nepal. “UNICEF is doing everything possible, but we urgently need more help to respond to the needs of children and women in health, nutrition, education, protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene.”

UNICEF is working with authorities and partners to respond to the urgent needs of affected children and families. Within two days of the earthquake, UNICEF has distributed emergency supplies to 2,000 families in Jajarkot’s Bheri and Nalgad municipalities, including hygiene kits, buckets, mugs and water purifiers, as well as tarpaulins and blankets. Further, two medical tents have been set up in Nalgad municipality for resumption of health services.

Additional supplies, including 667 sets of WASH supplies have reached Rukum West while 3,000 tarpaulins and blankets, as well as two medical tents have been dispatched to the affected areas.

The earthquake happened in one of the areas with high poverty levels in Nepal, further making the families even more vulnerable. The damage to school buildings is likely to impact the learning of thousands of children. Health centres have also been severely hit, which has slowed down critical health checkups, vaccinations and treatment for newborns, pregnant women and young children.

UNICEF continues to work round the clock on the ground to support the response efforts and reach the most vulnerable children during this difficult time of need.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Natural Disasters — Natural Disasters: Causes and Impacts

Natural Disasters: Causes and Impacts

• Categories: Natural Disasters

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Words: 682 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 682 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, definition of natural disasters, causes of natural disasters, environmental effects of natural disasters, economic effects of natural disasters, social effects of natural disasters, mitigation and preparedness measures.

• Callaghan, K., & Alexander, M. (2018). Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast: A Comprehensive Analysis of Impacts. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School.
• IPCC. (2014). Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Cambridge University Press.
• McMahon, J., & Keefer, J. (2016). Social Vulnerability and Tropical Cyclones in Sint Maarten. Journal of Water and Climate Change , 7(2), 396-408.
• UNDRR. (2017). Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. United Nations.
• Vos, F., Dykes, J., & Pierce, L. (2017). Flood Preparedness and Early-warning System Effectiveness in the Philippines. Disasters, 41(S1), S16-S37.

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Natural Disasters Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on natural disasters.

A Natural disaster is an unforeseen occurrence of an event that causes harm to society. There are many Natural disasters that damage the environment and the people living in it. Some of them are earthquakes , cyclones, floods, Tsunami , landslides, volcanic eruption, and avalanches. Spatial extent measures the degree or severity of the disaster.

Levels of Disaster

The severity or degree of damage can be further divided into three categories:

Small Scale Disasters: Small scale disasters are those that extend from 50 Kms. to 100 Kms. So this kind of disasters does not cause much damage.

Medium-scale disasters: Medium Scale disasters extend from 100 Kms to 500 Kms. These cause more damage than a small scale disaster. Moreover, they can cause greater damage if they occur in colonial states.

Large Scale Disasters: These disasters cover an area of more than 1000 Kms. These cause the most severe damage to the environment. Furthermore, these disasters can even take over a country if the degree is high. For instance, the wiping out of the dinosaurs was because of a large scale natural disaster.

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Types of Disasters

Causes: These can cause of releasing of the energy. This release is from the core of the earth. Furthermore, the release of energy causes seismic waves. Rupturing of geological faults causes earthquakes. But other events like volcanic eruptions, landslides mine blasts can also cause it.

Landslides: Landslides is the moving of big boulders of rocks or debris down a slope. As a result, landslides occur on mountains and hilly areas. Moreover, landslides can cause destruction to man-made things in many ways.

Causes: Gravitational pull, volcanic eruptions , earthquakes can cause landslides. Moreover, soil erosion due to deforestation is also a cause of landslides.

Avalanches: Avalanches are like landslides. But instead of rocks thousand tons of snow falls down the slope. Moreover, this causes extreme damage to anything that comes in its way. People who live in snowy mountains always have fear of it.

Causes: Avalanches takes places when there is a large accumulation of snow on the mountains. Moreover, they can also occur from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, the chances of surviving an avalanche are very less. This is because people die of hypothermia in it.

Tsunami: Tsunami is the production of very high waves in oceans and seas. Moreover, the displacement of the ground causes these high waves. A tsunami can cause floods if it occurs near shores. A Tsunami can consist of multiple waves. Moreover, these waves have a high current. Therefore it can reach coastlines within minutes. The main threat of a tsunami is if a person sees a Tsunami he cannot outrun it.

Causes: Tsunami is unlike normal eaves that occur due to the wind. But Tsunami is waves that occur by ground displacement. Thus earthquakes are the main causes of Tsunamis.

FAQs on Essay on natural disaster

Q1.What are natural disasters?

A1. Natural Disasters are unforeseen events that cause damage to the environment and the people.

Q2.Name some Natural disasters.

A2. Some Natural Disasters are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, Landslides, floods, Tsunami, avalanches. Natural disasters can cause great damage to human society. But preventive measures can be taken to reduce the damage from these disasters.

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