A disaster is a hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment.
Types of disasters Natural disaster Man made disaster
Natural disaster A natural disaster is a consequence when a natural hazard affects humans and/or the built environment.
Eg: earthquake, flood, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods and cyclones are all natural hazards that kill thousands of people and destroy billions of dollars of habitat and property each year.
Man made disasters Man-made disasters are the consequence of technological or human hazards.
Examples : fires, transport accidents, industrial accidents, oil spills and nuclear explosions/radiation. War and deliberate attacks may also be put in this category.
Fire accidents Accident caused due to fire is called fire accident. The damages caused by fire accidents will be more. Now-a-days fire accidents are common in all places. Fire accident caused due to crackers during diwali is more. Most of the fire accidents were happened due to the carelessness of people. In July 16, 2004, 91 school children were killed in a fire accident at Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.
Fire accidents can be controlled by using fire extinguishers and precautionary safety measures. It can be avoided when we are carefull.
Nuclear explosion A nuclear explosion is a man-made explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an intentionally generated high-speed nuclear reaction. In the history of warfare, two nuclear weapons have been detonated—both by the United States in World War II. The first event occurred on the morning of 6 August 1945, when the United States dropped a uranium gun-type device code-named "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The second event occurred three days later when, again, the United States dropped a plutonium implosion-type device code-named "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki. These bombings resulted in the immediate deaths of around 120,000 people and more over time, because of the nuclear radiation. The use of these weapons was and remains controversial. In 2011 due to equipment failure in Fukushima again there was a nuclear leakage in fukushima power plant. Nuclear tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have staged tests of them. Testing nuclear weapons can yield information about how the weapons work, as well as how the weapons behave under various conditions and how structures behave when subjected to nuclear explosions. Additionally, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength, and many tests have been overtly political in their intention;
The major effect of nuclear explosion is the radiation released during this process causes genetic mutation, radiation poisoning, and death. So to avoid such a condition nuclear weapons should be banned and nuclear testing should be prevented.
Apart from these man made disasters releasing of untreated effluent from a factory to the land, river and sea are also included.
Pollution
Pollution is the major man made disaster. It means adding impurity to environment. The smoke which is discharged from industries, automobiles and kitchens is the mixture of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane etc. These are all poisonous gases. These cause lung-cancer, tuberculosis etc. which take a heavy toll of life. The glaring incident is the Bhopal gas leak in December 1984. Thousands of the residents of Bhopal died due to lungs problem which was caused by methylamine gas from the Union Carbide Plant.
Then comes sound pollution. The harsh sounds of buses, its, mopeds etc. affect our power of hearing and causes fart trouble. It has been reported that there are two villages named Biraspalli and Devadas Palli near Dum Dum airport m Calcutta where a large number of people have lost their power of hearing. This is because of the frequent sounds of planes coming in and going out of Dum Dum Airport. The evils of sound pollution can be imagined from this example.
If the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil which produces our crops, vegetables and fruits, all become more and more impure, then our chances of good health and longevity will be very less and less. Environment pollution is a serious menace to our existence. Realising the danger, we must plant trees in large number to absorb impure air. Impure water from industries can be sent back for purification and then it can be used for irrigation purpose. Our government is well aware of the fact and is taking steps to save environment from pollution.
“earth is for the people, of the people and by the people”. So save our earth.