queenislam
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Natural disasters last year most expensive: UN
04:46 AM Mar 07, 2012
NEW YORK -
The economic cost of disasters last year was the highest in history - with a price tag of at least US$380 billion (S$480 billion),
mainly due to earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, a United Nations envoy said on Monday.
Ms Margareta Wahlstrom, the secretary-general's special representative for disaster risk reduction, said the figure was two-thirds higher than the previous record in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck southern United States.
In addition to the earthquakes, Ms Wahlstrom said major floods in Thailand and other countries caused extensive damage. "The main message is that this is an increasing - very rapidly increasing trend with increasing economic losses," Ms Wahlstrom said.
Despite the rising costs, she said, deaths from disasters are proportionally declining because countries are getting much better at instituting early warning systems and preparedness measures.
"We say today that 50 per cent of the world's population is exposed to disaster risks because they live in the highly vulnerable areas," Ms Wahlstrom said.
She cited Japan for having the highest economic exposure and the second-highest population exposure to potential disasters.
The risk of disasters is increasing globally because of climate change, the depletion of natural resources, poor land use and worsening environmental problems, she added. AP
~News.
~May Allah swt help,protect and guide all muslims~Amin!
Thank you for reading,
Take care,
~Wassalam .
Greeting!
Natural disasters last year most expensive: UN
04:46 AM Mar 07, 2012
NEW YORK -
The economic cost of disasters last year was the highest in history - with a price tag of at least US$380 billion (S$480 billion),
mainly due to earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, a United Nations envoy said on Monday.
Ms Margareta Wahlstrom, the secretary-general's special representative for disaster risk reduction, said the figure was two-thirds higher than the previous record in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck southern United States.
In addition to the earthquakes, Ms Wahlstrom said major floods in Thailand and other countries caused extensive damage. "The main message is that this is an increasing - very rapidly increasing trend with increasing economic losses," Ms Wahlstrom said.
Despite the rising costs, she said, deaths from disasters are proportionally declining because countries are getting much better at instituting early warning systems and preparedness measures.
"We say today that 50 per cent of the world's population is exposed to disaster risks because they live in the highly vulnerable areas," Ms Wahlstrom said.
She cited Japan for having the highest economic exposure and the second-highest population exposure to potential disasters.
The risk of disasters is increasing globally because of climate change, the depletion of natural resources, poor land use and worsening environmental problems, she added. AP
~News.
~May Allah swt help,protect and guide all muslims~Amin!
Thank you for reading,
Take care,
~Wassalam .