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Are natural disasters man-made? It’s hard to deny when the effects of climate change are all around us
Andrew Sheng says that from increasingly intense hurricanes to regional landslides and flooding, it’s clear our actions are effecting the environment. But, it’s also evident that there are ways for us to avert disaster and change course
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Why you can trust SCMP
After Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma hit the United States, followed by Maria hitting Puerto Rico, no one can deny natural disasters are devastating. With three hurricanes costing more than US$300 billion worth of damage, the poor suffer the most because they cannot afford to rebuild, like the rich can.
But how many of these natural disasters are man-made?
Despite US President Donald Trump being sceptical of climate change, the US Global Change Research Programme Climate Science Report published this month concludes that “it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century”.
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Small island states could be swamped by ‘apocalyptic storms’ caused by climate change
Carbon dioxide concentrations already exceeds 400 parts per million, which last occurred about 3 million years ago, when both average temperatures and sea levels were significantly higher.
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