No nation on earth is immune from natural disasters. What’s more, statistics indicate that the number of such calamities continues to steadily rise. Between 1973 and 1982, about 1,500 natural disasters occurred, while from 1993 to 2002 they increased to as many as 6,000.

Many experts now believe that the number of natural disasters is growing globally as a direct result of human activity. The Scientific American magazine reported that the destruction of ecosystems (e.g., the clearing of forests) is in part responsible for the increase in draughts, floods and hurricanes around the world; data collected by the National Research Council show that urbanization is making the situation worse by exposing more and more densely populated areas to the risks associated with earthquakes.

John Twigg, a climatologist and author of Mainstreaming Disaster Mitigation: Finds of Recent Research, says that, starting in 1970, natural disasters every year on average have taken 80,000 lives and have negatively affected 144 million people. According to University of Chicago estimates, over the last decade of the 20^th century, natural disasters affected approximately 2 billion people, a third of the entire world’s population.  

The World Health Organization estimates that the odds of becoming a victim of an earthquake, flood or volcanic eruption are far greater if you live in Asia or the Americas than in Europe. Developing countries are especially at risk, as statistics have repeatedly shown that 90% of all natural disaster-related fatalities take place in poorer regions of the world. Further, the United Nations has classified 24 of 49 least developed countries as ‘high risk’ with respect to vulnerability to natural disasters. Over the past 15 years, six of such nations have been exposed to between two and eight natural disasters.

Additionally, such disasters cause much greater damage in lesser developed countries. For example, insurer Munich Re Group estimates that the disasters ascribed to the so-called El Nino phenomenon of 1997 and 1998 cost the United States $1.96 billion, or 0.03% of GDP.  Damages related to the same weather system in Equador reached about $2.9 billion, or 14.6% of the South American country’s GDP.

Industrialized countries are not spared from the destructive forces of nature either. The violent earthquake that struck the city of Kobe, Japan, in 1995 cost the lives of several thousands of people. Economically, the earthquake cost Japan $155 million.

As of 6 January, 2005, governments of the world and international organizations had pledged more than $4.6 billion in humanitarian assistance to the countries most adversely affected by the tsunami disaster. Donations made by private individuals exceeded $765 million.

According to United Nations records, 46 nations have made pledges of financial assistance, including: Algeria ($2 million), Australia ($815 million), Bahrain ($2 million), Belgium ($16 million), Great Britain ($95 million), Canada ($80 million), China ($60 million), Denmark ($77 million), France ($65 million), Germany ($680 million), India ($25 million), Japan ($500 million), Saudi Arabia ($30 million), and the United States ($350 million).