Preventing a Ton of Cure: Disaster Preparedness.

[hearthstone]

Preventing a Ton of Cure: Disaster Preparedness.
(a timely rerun, I think)

Disasters, be they natural or human made, do occur--they have been occurring all throughout human history, they occur nowadays; they are nothing new to us. They do not surprise us.

Sadly though, whenever a disaster causing human and material damages happens, we act very shocked and surprised, time after time again. I say "act", because we should not, really, act surprised each time a disaster causes life loss and damage, wherever this might happen in the world, because we know of the possibility of disasters happening just about at any place on Earth, and we can envision what damages might occur at those places at such times.

Common sense dictates that it would be much wiser to prevent and to mitigate any possible effects of any disaster before it happens! I am sure that the state of the art of our science is such that we already are aware of the inadequacy of our disaster preparedness--why don't we use our capabilities, our knowledge to be ready (better than we are now) in case of disasters, and more importantly--why don't we do everything humanly possible to prevent the terrible damages and life loss that happen every so often, before a disaster does happen?

All this that I write is very trite, but it is true--time after time again. We know that disasters do happen; we know very well what the aftermath of any potential disaster anywhere in the world could be, and yet--anytime a disaster strikes, we play the same game over and over again. We feel very sorry for the victims, we feed the huge relief industry with our money, and we are ready for the next round, without ever trying to address the problem at where it might be stemming from well enough to make a difference.

Wouldn't it be much more humane to become concerned before disasters happen, and feel compassion for our neighbors before something preventable happens and causes grief to them?

Here is what I would like to suggest:
Let us have a look all over the globe, and let us try to imagine what damages could happen should a disaster, natural or otherwise, happen there.
Let us do get prepared for any relief that might be necessary in the future for after any disaster might happen, but--let us also start suggesting what the optimal conditions at each potential disaster site would have to be to make damage and loss of life minimal, should a disaster happen there.

May all these suggestions be made "visible" in models that would be accessible to anyone on the Internet, or by using what-so-ever media available, and may all this be open to critique and input by anyone who might feel that they may have some ideas pertinent to the subject to offer.
It would not be realistic to expect that all of these suggestions of how the ideal situations in which as little damage and life loss would happen in case of disasters would be immediately followed up upon, but, all of these suggestions would be there to be implemented when possible. The models would be there for anyone to see where to put their efforts into before anything bad happens, rather than be ever so concerned after a disaster strikes.

The news that we hear on the radio on the TV, etc., after each disaster strikes are the wrong kind of news. What the news should be about every day, should be about how we are preventing the next disaster from happening! About what the potential dangers are where, and about what should be done so that the next disaster, should it happen, would cause as little damage as possible.

Thank you sincerely - Hearthstone - www.ModelEarth.Org .

[Shandi]

This morning in Time Business News: regarding Nepal earthquake-Amy Nordrum

"And that is the case despite the fact that scientists, architects and other experts already possess the knowledge and technology to prevent the vast majority of deaths caused by earthquakes. What’s lacking has been the resources and political will necessary to set up basic protections in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

Earthquakes claimed 750,000 lives between 1994 and 2013, and experts warn that the world is primed to set a record high for the number of deaths caused by a single incident.
“An unprecedented death toll exceeding 1 million is now possible in a single earthquake, should it occur near one of the world's megacities,” Roger Bilham, a geologist at the University of Colorado, has said.

Catastrophic devastation is possible despite the sophisticated tools that scientists now possess to detect seismic activity in quake-prone regions. Architects have also mastered building techniques that reduce death tolls even for the largest earthquakes, and some governments have installed early warning systems to give citizens a few precious seconds to seek safety.

So why does the death toll continue to rise? The answer has partly to do with global population trends. There are roughly seven billion people on the planet now; by 2050, the world’s population will reach nine billion. And more people are moving to major urban centers. More than half the world’s citizens live in cities and the United Nations predicts that by 2050, two-thirds of the global population will reside in cities.

It’s tempting for urban planners to believe that advances such as modern building codes can temper the risks of massive earthquake casualties, but the populations of developing regions rife with substandard dwellings are growing at twice the rate of populations in developed nations, and many of those residents remain unprotected. GeoHazards International, a nonprofit focused on earthquake preparedness, says that nine out of 10 people who lived in earthquake-prone regions in 2000 were in developing countries."

It's interesting that both perspectives are noted: possible potential prevention and the opposite of the ability to prevent due to increasing populations in developing nations with substandard dwellings.

Preventing a Ton of Cure: Disaster Preparedness.
(a timely rerun, I think)...

[hearthstone]

In the question of overpopulation--what should be the optimal number of humans on Earth, so that humans stop causing harm not only to themselves, but to all other life also?
It cannot be just any off-the-wall number; It has to be based on all of our vast knowledge of Earth processes and of what we know about ecology.

This morning in Time Business News: regarding Nepal earthquake-Amy Nordrum