Vicky Maciel
ENG-2010
September 2013
Argument Position Paper
The Human Impact on Natural Disasters
Natural disasters occur worldwide and at any given time. However, the impact that humans have in regards to natural disasters has consistently increased over the years. As a result
1 of human development, these events are having an increased impact in terms of cost and benefits for ecological and human benefits. A natural disaster is a natural process that occurs in the biosphere, such as floods, landslides, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and many more natural phenomena’s. “Human vulnerability is usually the primary factor that explains trends in impacts, and in general, it overwhelms any positive effect on human well-being” (Conditions and Trends Working Group). Changes in ecosystems usually enhance the lives of humans while causing irreversible loss of diversity of life on our earth. If the rate of loss of diversity of life continues, the capacity of ecosystems to sustain life will dramatically decrease.
Humans Are the Cause of Natural Disaster Severity
Scientific evidence points to human-induced climate change as the underlying cause of the rise in hydro-meteorological events, as well as poor development planning and humancaused vulnerability. Serious human consequences are escalating due to the greater number of people in high risk areas such as floodplains, coastal areas, small islands and steep slopes
(Sudmeier-Rieux). Natural disasters have a negative impact on biodiversity through the spread of invasive species, mass species mortality and loss of habitat. Poorly planned post-disaster

response and reconstruction work often do more damage to biodiversity than the disaster itself (
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(Sudmeier-Rieux 6). Natural disasters have become natural catastrophes as far as sustaining our ecosystems. Over-exploitation of the natural world such as destruction of forests for the lumber, loss of soil and plants from agriculture and animal grazing, loss of natural coastline due to human development, fracking, mining and drilling have impacted the ecosystems that humans and all living things depend on to sustain life and ensure continued life (PBS). All of these human activities contribute to the breakdown or weakening of our ecosystem, which results in a higher loss of life and property damage when a natural occurring event such as a tornado happens. The increasing costs of recovery from these natural disasters are passed on to the
American people by way of increased insurance premiums and building costs. Not to mention the loss of life of first responders who are asked to go into the middle of a wildfire to rescue humans who didn’t evacuate when first told to, only to rebuild in the same area after the disaster is over. After a wildfire the terrestrial part of the ecosystem is destroyed leaving the area vulnerable for flooding and landslides. The depletion of sand on beaches from human removal or displacement of sand due to the building of homes and other structures increases the impact of hurricanes far more inland than it would have if the removal of the natural sand had never happened. This kind of human behavior is typical in almost all ecosystems worldwide and is the number one reason natural disasters are now considered catastrophes. The term “ natural”
has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement. Understanding the basic principles of ecology can provide keys to lessening their effects. The best prevention is looking at the strategies found in nature. Destruction of the ecosystem is working against nature. Decisions on protecting species, communities and ecosystems often come down to arguments over money: How much will it cost? And how much

is it worth? Unfortunately, government and corporate officials currently base major policy decisions on economic valuation. Conservation biologists now use the methodology and vocabulary of economics in their arguments for protection of diversity. It is easier to convince governments and corporations to protect biological diversity when there is an economic incentive to do so. (Primack)
In 1980 a Texaco oil rig was drilling for petroleum in Lake
Figure 1: Lake Peigneur.
Peigneur which sat directly on top of a salt mine. They drilled a hole directly into the top of the mine causing the mine to be flooded with water. As the mine filled with water, the salt dissolved and the hole expanded. This created a natural whirlpool that sucked in the drilling platform, seven barges and 65 acres of land and then was spewed out 400 ft. into the air by the geyser created after the mine filled with water. (Dennison)
Natural Causes from Natural Disasters Are Cause of Destruction of Ecosystem
Natural disasters have been occurring since the beginning of time and will continue to occur regardless of what humans do or don’t do. These natural occurring events can actually aid the ecosystem in getting rid of wood fuel accumulation, flooding moves nutrients through the floodplains to be deposited into the ocean and recycled through the system again. Humans
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should be able to build where ever desired as long as the expenses from a natural disaster event
4 can be financially covered by them alone. Natural flooding from hurricanes and extreme tropical storms has always had a negative impact on the ecosystem and there is nothing man can do to stop these natural occurring events. Forest fires and volcanic eruptions introduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere reducing the release of natural carbon. When ash from a volcano settles over a land mass it increases toxicity in the soil and can alter the ecosystem in a negative way. Acid rain from a volcanic eruption makes waters acidic and causes them to absorb the aluminum that makes its way from soil into lakes and streams ( (National Geographic). In an ecosystem, what impacts one species, eventually impacts many more throughout the food chain.
Figure 2: Forest after an acid rainstorm.

Floods contribute to the erosion of the coastline and are the most common natural disaster in the
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U.S. Flashfloods are the most devastating to the ecosystem because of the large amount of precipitation that falls in a short amount of time. This can result in sudden death of marine life and contamination of rivers, streams and lakes due to destruction of buildings that contain pesticides and human waste.
In 2010 the British Petroleum Company had an oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which resulted in the leakage of millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf. It is to date the worst oil spill disaster ever. The destruction to the surrounding ecosystems was immense, while the recovery very slow.
Figure 3: The Gulf of Mexico in 2010 after the BP oil spill.
Conclusion
Humans have had a major impact on the severity of natural disasters because of the lack of common sense when considering where to build. This deliberate avoidance of crucial information by humans has impacted our ecosystem to the point of catastrophic destruction to the

ecosystem. Our environment will naturally repair what was naturally destroyed. But the destruction by humans cannot be repaired by nature, leaving our environment forever altered.
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Works Cited
Conditions and Trends Working Group. Eco Systems and Human Well-Being: Current State and Trends.
Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2005. Print.
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Dennison, Ben. "6 Natural DisastersThat Were Caused by Humans." 05 Oct. 2009. Article. 30 Nov. 2013.
National Geographic. environment.nationalgeographic.com. 2011. Web. 29 September 2013.
PBS. Need To Know; Natural Disasters. 2005. Documentay.
Primack, Richard B. Essentials of Conservation Biology. MA.: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2010. Print.
Sudmeier-Rieux, Karen. ""Ecosystems, Livlihoods and Disasters." ." Ecosystem Management Series No. 4
(2006): 1-45. Print.
US Geological Survey. USGS pubs.usgs.gov/fs/natural-disasters. n.d 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2013.