Middleton (2013, p.467) says “natural hazards should be defined and studied both in terms of the physical processes involved and the human factors affecting the vulnerability of certain groups of people to disasters.” Therefore, natural disasters can be defined as uncontrollable events which have devastating impacts on the lives and environment of the area in which they occur.
There are many different types of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and disease epidemics. Most of these can be related and if one happens it is possible that another will follow. The likeliness that a country will suffer from a natural disaster depends on past experiences of natural disasters, scientific forecasts using data, and the extent of population growth within the country. The likeliness of natural disasters occurring is increasing, due to a combination of environmental factors such as global warming impacting the climate, and social factors such as more countries reporting natural disasters.
Before learning about natural disasters on this scale, I had not considered how strongly politics impact on their power and effect. Mitigation is not always possible but extensive efforts are being made by scientists across the world to mitigate the effects of natural disasters. The political will and economic status of a country heavily dictates the ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a natural disaster. In order for countries to prepare for disasters, they have to have enough money and resources to do so. They also must have a non-corrupt government which has natural disaster preparation as a priority. Having a government which has many inter-national allies is also important as this means that the country is more likely to receive help if and when they need it. Preparation takes place at a local, national, and inter-national level. This can be by means of government policies, training in schools, local building supports, and guarantee of funding from other countries. It is the government’s job to prepare the country adequately, respond as quickly as possible by sending out emergency services and putting emergency plans into place, and to rebuild the country after the disaster has hit. International and non-governmental organisations also take part in the response by providing the people of the country with aid and helping them to rebuild schools and other community hubs. These aim to work unbiasedly but can sometimes be pressured by governments to prioritise certain things.
By comparing two case studies about Japan and Haiti I found that developing countries have less money and so less resources, meaning that their preparation for natural disasters is poorer. Poor preparation then leads to slower and less effective responses and this then means slower and often less effective recovery. Developing countries also often have fewer countries who are willing to help them, but it is these countries who rely most heavily on international aid. This may be related to the fact that the media and people of power indirectly portray messages about who is most worthy of help (Nix-Stevenson, 2013).
It is not just the poorest countries that tend to suffer most from natural disasters, but the poorest people in a country. Middleton (2013) discusses that it is often the poor, the young, the old, disabled people, and people of minorities who suffer most heavily from natural disasters. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that many of these people have less choice about how they are going to deal with hazards. Some of them may also find it more difficult to evacuate and a lack of social support can mean that they are more reluctant to evacuate. In addition, Stout and Buono (2008) says that there is evidence of government and organisational corruption in many countries which have previously suffered from natural disasters as the rich were favoured and given priorities for many things including reconstruction. Developing countries and poor people rely heavily on charities and other non-governmental organisations for aid and support during these times of crisis.
This is not to say however that the richest countries and the richest people do not fall victim to natural disasters. Middleton (2013, p.468) states that “very rich societies suffer the highest property damage”. This may be due to the fact that they have more expensive structures and generally more property on their land for the natural disaster to destroy. This may mean that their more expensive buildings are going to cost more for them to replace.
All of this knowledge is relevant to teaching as children must learn about the different natural disasters which occur. Nix-Stevenson (2013) discusses the importance of educating people about natural disasters as she says education leads to knowledge which leads to power. This power then leads to the ability to take action. It is through explaining these things to children and helping them to relate to natural disasters by doing cross curricular activities that they will develop an interest in events such as these. This interest will then help them to foster critical skills when they next hear about a natural disaster and to question whether or not they think that the media has portrayed it accurately. Guest speakers such as charity workers and video chats with children from countries which are prone to natural disasters would be a good way to show that these things happen to people just like them. We could also do drama activities such as a talk show within which different children acted as interviewers, emergency services workers, survivors, government officials from different countries and charity workers, discussing their preparation, response and recovery from a recent imaginary natural disaster. There are also many literacy lessons which could take place including a newspaper report and a diary extract. Maths could also be covered as learners could interpret graphs and plot points on a grid in relation to detection of hurricanes for example. All of these activities would help learners to develop their knowledge of the subject and to develop critical thinking skills.
There are also a variety of skills which I developed and which learners would develop through completion of science experiments related to natural disasters. By completing an activity using bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, fairy liquid and food colouring to represent a volcanic eruption I developed my ability to use and apply models. Learners could also develop this skill by making their own tectonic plates out of play dough and connecting them to those shown on a map of the tectonic plates. By pouring the acid and water on to rocks before hammering them I was developing my skills of pattern seeking, exploring and fair testing as I was investigating which rocks would be broken by the hammer and then considering the common properties of the rocks which could and couldn’t be broken. I also had to ensure it was a fair test by only dropping the same number of drops of acid and water on to each rock and hammering them the same number of times. This type of things would not be suitable for primary school children. However, the skills can be developed through other activities such as making model buildings of different materials and using fans to replicate the strong winds of a tornado, or shaking the table to replicate an earthquake, and then testing which of them collapsed and which remained standing. The learners would be required to make sure that the models were placed in front of the fan for the same amount of time and at the same distance from the fan for the results to be accurate.
Through development of my knowledge and by practising my skills in these areas I am now more confident that I will be able to transfer them to children through different IDL activities.
References
Middleton, N. (2013) The Global Casino (5th edition). London: Hodder Arnold. pp.467-496.
Nix-Stevenson, D. (2013) Human Response to Natural Disasters. SAGE Open. [Online] Vol.3(3), pp.1-12. Available: http://journals.sagpub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244013489684
Stout, A. and Buono, R. (2008) “Natural” Disasters are Social Problems: Learning from Katrina. [Online] Available: http://www.sssp1.org/file/AgendaforSocialJustice/Agenda_For_Social_Justice_2008_Chapter_4.pdf
