Many Americans dismiss environmental concerns as a problem for the future. While they believe that the United States should protect the environment, there is no sense of urgency. It is a common belief that Western culture and business can afford to damage the environment as long as we do not cross a certain threshold after which the environment can no longer support mankind. Many Americans do not realize that the limit of environmental degradation has already been exceeded, and furthermore that countless individuals have already suffered as a consequence of the United States’ lack of concern for environmental problems. Our disregard for the environment has accelerated global warming which is contributing to the recent worldwide increase in natural disasters. The United States must take active measures to counteract environmental destruction.

Erin Bohensky, a writer for the Environment Times, defines natural disaster as “a sudden, devastating, and sometimes surprising event or misfortune.” Unfortunately, a natural disaster involves much more for people across the globe. Such events result in thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars of damage every year. According to the IFRC World Disasters Report for 2004, the frequency of natural disasters has increased alarmingly by 68% over the last 10 years. In recent years, the Southeast Asia Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina have caused the most damage and had the most terrible impacts. These catastrophes have led to an increase in dialogue regarding how countries and peoples can limit the damage caused by natural disasters. When examining other cultures, including a number of Asian communities which survived the tsunami with astounding success, it is clear that the United States must take dramatic measures to improve its environment and counteract global warming in order to mitigate the frequency and effects of natural disasters.

Hurricane Katrina exposed the United States’ vulnerability to natural disasters and the need to make sweeping changes to avert future tragedies. Disregarding epidemics and disasters with unknown death tolls, Hurricane Katrina was the most deadly and destructive natural disaster in the history of the United States. Over 1,300 people died and damages from the hurricane exceeded 100 billion dollars. Despite being one of the most technologically a d v a n c e d countries in the world, the United States failed to predict the damage the hurricane would cause and failed to react appropriately. The response to the disaster was insufficient and came too late, after a string of human failures that could have been avoided. Even having learned the lessons of September 11, we were unprepared to respond effectively to a catastrophe that was anticipated for several days.

In order to prevent tragedies such as Katrina from recurring, the United States must make a commitment to educating the public about protecting the environment. Ignorance is often the main culprit in disastrous occurrences. A natural disaster is not an unavoidable tragic event, but rather an aspect of nature which humans can combat and control if they are adequately prepared. Every American should take an active role in fighting natural disasters.

The first step is increased awareness of how the US contributes to the natural disaster problem through its neglect of the environment. The number of natural disasters occurring per year is increasing at an alarming rate. This is not a natural phenomenon; it is the consequence of global warming. Global warming is caused by the heavy pollution of industrial nations, and the US is the main culprit, accounting for 36% of all harmful emissions. Global temperature increases are obvious to the whole of the scientific community; though it is difficult to prove scientifically, the majority of environmentalists and scientists are in agreement that global warming is causing the increase in natural disasters.

There must be more disaster education at the national level and greater efforts made to understand why and how a natural disaster can be so devastating. With this education, the United States can mirror a previously successful formula for survival; that is, rejuvenating the environment and ceasing to contribute to environmental catastrophe. The United States must first understand that these disasters are in part a consequence of burning fossil fuels and then work to reduce emissions. Though environmental reform may not impact the global climate immediately, the US needs to take the lead before it is too late by implementing much-needed measures to improve our environment and prevent natural disasters.

Moreover, opposition to the needed reforms is shortsighted. Environmental management and change is a difficult prospect in the national sense. Large industries have significant political influence and fear that additional pollution control measures would hurt their business. These industries claim that laws regulating pollution would give foreign companies not subject to the restrictions an economic edge over those based in the United States. Politicians and business leaders find environmental pollution easy to ignore because it is unclear just how much damage can be done without causing huge problems. It is impossible to know whether the environmental damage done in the past ten years will cause catastrophic problems in the next century or no problems at all. This unwillingness to acknowledge the possible effects of environmental damage leaves the United States prone to more catastrophic events.

Because Western science has been unable to interpret nature’s complex systems, Americans have ignored the cause and effect relationship that has been clearly exposed. In contrast, other populations which tend to look at systems in a simpler manner often learn from those systems as a result. In Swaziland, for example, indigenous populations can predict floods by observing how high riverside birds build their nests. They can also foretell a drought by counting the number of moths. In addition, many locals who were forewarned about the Southeast Asia tsunami knew how to react to it because of their tradition and history; as a result, they survived more successfully than others. Among these traditions are a Moken legend which describes the receding of the ocean before the coming of a tsunami and the knowledge that earth tremors can cause sudden dizziness in some people. Populations that are able to analyze and interpret systems in a more basic manner than Western civilizations often benefit from the simplicity of their reasoning. Opposition to environmental protection is missing the big picture.

If the United States is able to rebuild its environment, it will not only help prevent disasters, but will mitigate the effects of disasters that do occur. Generally, topography and local ecosystems serve as protective barriers for local populations during natural disasters. Inhabitants of the Andaman and Nicobar islands were protected from the Southeast Asia tsunami by the intact coastal ecosystems they have fiercely guarded. Similar ecosystems in other tsunami-damaged areas had been destroyed due to tourism and industrial fishing. In a similar vein, mangroves in Vietnam protect coastal settlements from typhoon and storm damage by buffering the land from the powerful seas. A storm that killed many people in Haiti, where most of the coastline has been deforested, took far fewer victims in the neighboring Dominican Republic, where the hills are still heavily wooded. In tsunamis, typhoons, and rainstorms, the preservation of nature associated with native peoples has protected them from suffering the brunt of disasters. If it wishes to regain this sort of protection for its people, the United States must pass reforms limiting pollution and environmental damage so that our ecosystem can begin to rebuild.

Although the United States is among the most scientifically advanced countries of the world, we have made a terrible mistake by damaging the environment. In light of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, the United States is extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. Industrial disregard for the environment has led to global warming, the main culprit in the worldwide increase in disasters. The United States’ tradition of damaging the environment must be stopped and sweeping changes need to take place to rebuild. Through disaster education on a national level, Americans can become more aware of the problem and begin to address it. An intact ecosystem will not only prevent natural disasters from occurring but will mitigate their effects as well. The United States must take dramatic steps to improve our environment before it is too late.