The human race is powerless when faced with natural disasters. Discuss.
History is littered with examples of horrific disasters; unstoppable forces of nature that have wiped out
entire civilizations, leaving the human race powerless to do anything but watch. One of the most
famous, or infamous, of these disasters was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the time of the Roman
Empire, that completely annihilated the city of Pompeii. But is this still the case today? Since the disaster
of Pompeii, there have been several advancements and innovations made in both engineering and
science, and we have come to better understand the inner workings of our planet. So, are we really
powerless against natural disasters?
What are natural disasters in the first place, and why do they have such a devastating impact on our
lives? Natural disasters, as a blanket term, can be defined as catastrophic events caused by nature,
unrelated to human activity. These can include earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and even
pandemics. In general, most natural disasters occur on a scale of different magnitudes, and not all of
them will result in a large amount of damage or loss of life. Humans have developed defenses and early
warning systems against them, and their effectiveness has improved with time. Take for example the
2012 hurricane Sandy. This hurricane barreled into New York, killing 43 people, and causing billions of
dollars in damage. After it, New York has spent generous sums of money updating their defenses to
protect their coastal regions from flooding, as well as blocking off any potential entry-points for a
tsunami to push its way inland. They have modelled these defenses after the Netherland’s anti-flooding
infrastructure and have even managed to make them eco-friendly. Large sloping beaches with porous
sand and parks with porous soil act as brilliant natural deterrents to the progression of water inland.
Furthermore, in countries susceptible to earthquakes like Japan, civil engineers design buildings to be
able to withstand them. They do this by rotating the building so that it opposes the direction of the
seismic waves caused by earthquakes. This ensures that the building remains standing, even with
immense forces acting on it. Other techniques, and the technology to implement them, also exist and
most new buildings are now constructed with these defenses in mind. Seismic sensors can also detect
early signs of an earthquake and give enough warning so that people are better able to handle it. This
warning system also works in a similar way for volcanic eruptions.
However, there are some disasters that cannot be physically detected or predicted, because the entities
that cause them are several magnitudes smaller than a grain of sand. Pandemics are perhaps the
deadliest form of natural disaster, an invisible danger that is almost undetectable. The COVID-19
pandemic is the most obvious example of this, and it is widely regarded that this pandemic has left
humanity powerless to stop it. In a year, it has wreaked havoc on our lives, and has changed the world
permanently. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term economic and societal
consequences. On the other hand, some countries have been able to successfully slow its spread
through quick responses and regulations. South Korea handled the pandemic admirably in its early days,
by ramping up testing, as well as the manufacturing of testing kits and personal protection equipment. It
enforced a lockdown as early as possible and utilized online software to track cases across the country.
Sadly, many other countries were unable to follow South Korea’s example, for a variety different
reasons and circumstances. Other countries that also did a good job containing the virus are New
Zealand and Vietnam.
It is clear that while humanity has come a long way in defending itself from natural disasters, there is
still a lot of room for improvement. Building physical defenses and early warning systems have saved
lives, but these methods need to be constantly improved and maintained. Natural disasters will only
increase in frequency and magnitude due to climate change, and simply updating existing systems is not
enough. The ongoing pandemic proves this. So, while the human race is not powerless in the face of
natural disasters, we are not powerful either.
Word Count: 692
Essay by Zahabiya Mukadam who was awarded 97 out of hundred in her EGP board exam. She received
30 out of 30 for her essay and was declared Top in World for the March 2021 Exam.