Environmental Disasters and Implications for UAE - Assignment Example

Environmental disasters and implications for UAE Introduction Sudden events that are triggered by natural factors such as floods, landslides, and earthquakes are referred to as natural disasters. Environmental disasters lead to significant damage to infrastructure and loss of life affecting the economic activities in a country. Over the past decade, there has been an increase in natural disasters leading to the death of over 3 million people. The reasons for the increased natural disasters are the increase in the building density, concentration of people in urban centres, growth in population. Environmental disaster prevents development in the society. UAE is not safe from the environmental hazards because of the lack of a clear planning policy. Thus, the project focuses on environmental disasters and their implications on UAE. Nature of the problem Recently, disasters in UAE have occurred leading to loss of life and property. As a result, the socioeconomic and geopolitical structure and positing have been highly affected. People move to urban areas in search of employment and better living standards. With the concentration of population in the urban are the environment is affected. The new arrivals in the urban centres opt to occupy unsafe land and build unsafe dwelling increasing vulnerability. Moving to urban areas leads to unplanned growth, making the disaster prone areas more vulnerable. The exertion of pressure on the environment results in the occurrence of the natural disaster (Abed, 2001). Evidently, poverty is one of the effects of natural disasters. When natural disasters occur, there is a great loss of lives and the distraction of infrastructure. Research shows that the poor and the marginalized are disproportionately affected by the natural disasters. The shoddily constructed slums are vulnerable to floods, landslides, and earthquakes. Women tend to have less access to the essential resources, hence they are adversely affected by the natural disasters. There has been increased the misery of people because of the effects for instance displacement of people into camps. Floods, for instance, displace people, and they have to inhabit a new environment. People’s lives and experiences are affected. When people move into new areas, they have to adapt new ways of life affecting their communal set-up (Abed, 2001). Consequently, the internal displaced persons increase hardships in places where they move. Relief agencies have to rescue the affected individuals who call for facilities to facilitate the rescue program. The state’s economy is weakened as the natural disasters continue to increase, the government is supposed to respond. The internally displaced persons compete for the available resources resulting in conflicts. People feel that the resources are unequally distributed and most of the times they feel that they should fight for their rights. In most of the UAE countries, there is political instability. Natural disasters exert pressure on the government, and it is required to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure (Ayalon, 2003). Background and significance of the problem Over the past decade, UAE countries have encountered a series of challenges and crises affecting their economy, well-being of their people and the development strategies. Over time, the scale of the impacts of the natural disasters is becoming larger and complex. With the increase in climate change and global warming floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes have increased the threats to people’s lives and their communities. Other effects such as technological advancements have also resulted in the increase in natural disasters. Governments need to come up with ways of ensuring that disaster management a need to be taken into consideration (Walker, 2010). Climate change and globalization are some of the things that a country can control by reducing pollution in the nation. Subsequently, the climate of UAE is hot because it is located on the coast. During summer and autumn humidity reaches over 89 percent. It rains during the winter period, and the winter rains take the form of orographic and torrential frontal downpours. The offshore islands in UAE have a salt-dome surface. During eruption, the surface forms obstructive and distinctive looking hills. In other circumstances, deposits of guano are created during the eruption process. Natural disasters affect the overall outlook of landscapes. Formation of fog is also one if the important aspects which affect the population. The climatic conditions have played a big role in influencing natural resources. Change in climate has caused some of the natural disasters experienced in UAE (Walker, 2010). In the case of climate-related disasters, natural resources result from the potential severity of events such as storms, drought, and floods. Vulnerability is the set of social, political, physical and economic factors that determine the damage caused by an event. Over the past century, global change projects that they will have a great impact on the population. Research shows that the developing countries tend to suffer from the natural disasters. Islands have the highest risk of experiencing natural disasters because of their geographical location (Walker, 2010). Apart from the increase in population, Abed (2001) argues that the extreme weather conditions have resulted in the occurrence of the natural disasters. During the 21st century, global surface temperatures are becoming more pronounced. Small islands are prone to tropical cyclones which make them vulnerable to long coastal lines. Over the past decade, billions of people have been affected by the natural disasters. They have adversely affected the level of development in UAE. Although, urban areas are experiencing rapid growth there is a need to come up with strategies to control natural disasters. Unplanned growth, poorly engineered buildings are prone to the effects of natural disasters. Urban planners are supposed to come up with ways of ensuring that they maintain good standards, especially in building (Ayalon, 2003). Literature review According to Brady (2013), natural disasters have a long-term effect on the population. The long-term outcomes are experienced in a number of channels causing adverse damage in the forestry, agriculture, and fishing sector. Destruction of schools has long-lasting implications on the stock of the human capital and reconstruction of the schools. As a result, the education sector is affected as children are forced to abandon schools as a result of the increased natural disasters. The level of education has been affected as a result of the instability in the education sector. Kafiludum (2001) focuses mainly on specific areas of environmental implications. The natural environment comprises of water and air. Additionally, he emphasizes on issues such as tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Natural resources contribute to the transmission of some of the diseases. They result in the transmission of waterborne diseases because it disrupts the water and sewerage system. Additionally, hygiene and sanitation are compromised as a result of overpopulation. The normal public service systems are interrupted because of the floods. Floods have also prompted an outbreak of diseases such as cholera and leptospirosis. According to Stoltman (2007), apart from water pollution, natural disasters cause air pollution, especially in large cities in UAE. Volcano eruptions, adversely lead to air pollution. They also alter the landscape and how it is different areas are formed. During adverse conditions, the flora and fauna are greatly affected. Strong winds and volcanoes damage the trees and cause immigration of animals from their natural habitats. Natural disasters effects are distinguished from acts of war such as nuclear bombings. The natural disasters alter the ecosystem has they have long-lasting effects on the natural environment. It severely affects human life and most of the times they are required to migrate to other places. According to Brady (2013), environmental protection relies on protecting the environment to ensure that the environment is protected from any form of natural catastrophes. There are also threats on the global scale have greatly affected the environment. They include domestic pollution, reclamation, and sedimentation. The effects of natural disasters are clearly manifested in different sectors of the economy. The agricultural sector has also been affected by the natural disasters that affect the climate. Additionally, the agricultural sector production is low because natural disasters affect the landscapes. The demand is high, but there is no surplus production. The cost of production is also high. As presented by Abed (2001), environmental disasters have a great implication in the economic interests and domestic politics. In the domestic field, focuses on the ecological vulnerability of the country’s climate. United Arab Emirates it’s an Arabic and Islamic country located in the Middle East. Most of the Arab countries are located adjacent to the Iranian plateau close to the Zagros Fault zone. The place around the fault is characterized by high seismic activity. The place is vulnerable to natural disasters because of its location. The concentration in urban areas also facilitates the occurrence of the natural calamities. Abed (2001) states different calamities that have occurred in 1995 to 2009 resulting in the destruction of property and loss of lives in United Arab Emirates. Masafi earthquake which occurred in 2002, Al Tawaian landslide took place in 2005, and Tropical Gonu storm which occurred in 2007. The natural disasters which occurred in this period resulted to change on issues of governance and some of the management issues within the highly urbanized communities. The government also had to come up with a strategy to deal with the issue. For instance, they were supposed to provide aid to the affected families to ensure that they were sustained. Martin (2012) came up with a disaster theory where classified disaster management in different categories. He classified disaster management on the basis of interrelationships where he applied the cycle of disaster management. In this theory, all the socioeconomic and natural resources are mapped to apply the function of an ecosystem and infrastructural service perspective. Martin classified the effects of natural disasters into four main areas which include technical, organizational, social and economic. Social referred to the capacity that can be used to reduce the negative societal consequences which are caused by the natural disaster. Martin (2012) further discusses organizational resilience as a factor to consider during the disaster management period. It encourages the management to make proper decisions to ensure that they carry out proper planning to curb the occurrence of the natural disasters. The technical resilience determines how the physical systems perform and their contribution to the environmental disasters. The economic resilience focuses on the direct and indirect economies needed to control the natural resources. Thus, there is a need to carry out the risk assessment to control risks in case they occur in a specific society. Understanding the effects of the natural disasters and dealing with them appropriately leads to the growth of the nation. The country will use few finances in controlling the disasters. Main issues The natural calamities such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis have overwhelmed the entire population in the UAE countries. Millions of people have died as a result of the activities. There has been a call for rapid medical care services to protect the casualties. The services are offered very fast to protect the survivors. Medical staffs are always prepared to deal with the issues at all times. Thus, improvement of the medical facilities is one of the main issues that the government focuses on to protect the affected individuals. Apart from the medical services, the countries have also invested in emergency funding services to help the victims of the natural disasters. The emergency fund system obtains the funds from donors who promise to give their donations in a specific period (Davis, 2008). Additionally, the relationship between human rights and natural disasters is an issue of concern. The tsunami which occurred in 2004 brought the issue of human rights and it was supposed to be addressed by an international agenda. Some the basic human rights include food, shelter, and clothing. Hence, after the disaster, the UAE had to define a way in which the government would deal with the issues to make sure that people would get a fulfilment of their basic needs even after the natural disasters. To deal with the situation, the government came up with relief agencies which developed the ambitious programs of fulfilling the people’s needs. They also had to come up with a concrete guidance to ensure that the rights of the individuals who were affected by the tsunami were dealt up with. The decision was based on the humanitarian issues and the conviction of the human rights (Amin, 2008). Subsequently, there are some of the problems which affect the persons affected by the natural disasters such as enforced relocation, property restitution, and recruitment of young children into the army, loss of the documentation system, and gender and sexual based violence. In most cases, the affected population is forced to leave their homes, thus making them internally displaced persons. The results of the natural calamities affect the population and people’s livelihood. The people have to ensure that they manage their systems to control the population. Internally displaced persons have various needs, and the government has to implement policies to help their citizens (Kafiluddin, 2001). Anticipation impacts and the consequences of the issues With the development of the society, the country has become more vulnerable to man-made and natural hazards. The issues of natural disaster are mostly felt in the coastal region where the population is high. The high rise of building and commercial structures affects the area leading to the occurrence of the natural disasters. The UAE countries have also come up with steps in conceptualizing the framework. The increased natural calamities encouraged the country to come up with different spheres to ensure that they dealt with the issue. The spheres are categorized into political, economic, environmental, and social spheres. Consequently, the economic sphere mostly focused on securing a stable and long-term growth economically regardless of the occurrence of the natural resources. It also focused on its capability of producing more and better jobs to facilitate equal distribution of income. The social dimension mainly dealt with coming up with strategies to eradicate poverty and ensuring that they maximize social cohesion. Additionally, the environmental sphere mainly focused on attaching value on the natural resources for the purpose of the future generation. The process favours environmental sustainability and ensures that people take care of the environment in which they inhabit (Kumar, 2012). Additionally, the impact on the political system is also addressed through the political sphere. Ideally, the political sphere focuses on enhancing accountability and legitimate policies in all the political operations in UAE. It also emphasizes on the increase of participation in political system aiming at attaining the goals set in the country. Political sphere focuses on looking at the cohesion objectives and prioritizing the social affairs. The state is responsible for protecting and respecting the human rights. Thus, the political sphere is instrumental in ensuring that the human rights are meant (Walker, 2010). Analysis of the data Primarily, the acquisition and analysis of data come from analysing the data collected from the quantitative and qualitative questions. The questions examine the preparedness and disaster vulnerability of the UAE sectors such as the energy sector. The questions were conducted in the official Arabic language. The steps in the data analysis included coding and editing the survey data, process them into specific software, and providing detailed information about the data collected. Analysis of data was also done concerning the main hazards caused by the climate change. Climate change is one of the factors that affect the environment. The data collected to access the environmental effects was also analysed to determine what causes the natural disasters on the environmental sector. The questions on the environmental issue would be closed-ended to facilitate easier acquisition of information. The information adapted from the closed-ended questions gave the different issue that people face as a result of the natural disasters (Amin, 2008). Conclusion UAE has been prone to various natural hazards such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. The cause of the natural resources occurred as a result of the increase in population in the urban areas. The increase in human activities has also facilitated the change in economic, social, and political set-up. The environmental disasters have had a great effect on all the sectors of the economy. Political stability has also been a main issue due to the occurrence of the natural disasters. The data collected clearly showed that natural disasters adversely affected the livelihood of the people in UAE. Natural disaster in the UAE has brought advance effects to these countries. It has resulted in significant loss of lives and destructions of property in the UAE. Although the countries have made an effect to control the occurrence of the natural disasters more has to be done. Planning in urban areas is one of the key factors that the country can engage in to ensure that there is a control of the influx of people in the urban areas. Creation of jobs in rural areas is one of the major things that the government can do to control overpopulation in urban areas. Recommendations Based on the research conducted, there are various recommendations that need to be put in place to deal with the natural disaster issues in the UAE. Ensure that they meet the human needs before considering other interests Human beings take the central position in every society. Before research is conducted, there is a need to satisfy the needs of the affected members of the society by providing basic needs to the affected citizens. Improving the working conditions and increasing the employment opportunities should be at the centre stage. Building a strong partnership with the donors In most of the instances, a country cannot supply its population with all it needs. It needs to ensure that there are donors who help them in supplying the affected communities with the facilities that they need. Coming up with strategic and effective building plans Strategies in the building sector result in the occurrence of the natural disasters. Constructors should be registered organization, which ensures that the buildings have all the requirements that a constructor need. The urban planners will also consider the appropriate place where the buildings should be located. They will control overpopulation in the urban centres. References Abed, I. A. (2001). United Arab Emirates : a new perspective. London : Trident Press. Amin, S. (2008). Data against natural disasters : establishing effective systems for relief, recovery, and reconstruction. Washington : International government publication . Ayalon, A. (2003). Middle East contemporary survey. Westview. : Boulder Colo Press . Brady, C. (2013). Intelligent m & a : navigating the mergers and acquisitions minefield. Hoboken, N.J. : : Wiley. Davis, L. (2008). Natural disasters. New York : Facts On File. Kafiluddin. (2001). Disaster preparedness for Bangladesh floods and other natural calamities. Bangladesh : : Md. Salauddin. Kumar, A. (2012). Safer homes, stronger communities : a handbook for reconstructing after natural disasters. Washington : International government publication. Martini. (2012). Landscapes and societies : selected cases. New York : Springer. Stoltman, J. P. (2007). International perspectives on natural disasters : occurrence, mitigation, and consequences. Springer: Dordrecht. Walker, J. (2010). Oman, UAE & Arabian Peninsula. Footscray Vic: : Lonely Planet Press. Read More