Positive and negative effects of natural disasters

Natural disasters are nature’s way of keeping things in balance. Even though natural disasters affect us all there is hardly anything we can do to stop them from happening. Natural disasters teach us that, we humans are just the residents of this earth and not the keeper. These disasters bring with them mass destruction to property, life and brings our lives to a stand still for a while. But above their destructive capabilities they can also help us in certain ways that we never think about. So let me illustrate both the positive and negative effects of natural disasters.

Positive effects of natural disasters:

1. Positive Ecological Effects:

Natural disasters have certain ecological effects such as balancing the temperature in regions of imbalance, storms, hurricanes and heavy rains all transfer heat from the tropics to the poles without which there might be an imbalance in the climatic conditions. The tremendous amount of rains are also beneficial to our ecology and helps farmers with their agricultural needs. Hurricanes and storms also redistribute the top soil and balances it in places that lack top soil, this is also beneficial for agriculture. Volcanic eruptions brings up the nutrients that were trapped deep in the ground before the eruption, thereby enriching the soil. Volcanoes have also known to expand small islands and overtime create more land mass. They also release useful chemicals into the atmosphere such as hydrogen and carbon di oxide which are part of the water cycle. Floods bring with them nutrients that get deposited along the way in lands and water bodies helping these lands have more enriched soils and also helping the aquatic life.

2. It leaves us with a greater appreciation of nature and also brings us together:

Suffering brings people closer, this is a sad reality in this world we live in. Natural disasters bring the best out of humans such as the tendency to help and protect those around them. It leaves us with a greater sense of appreciation of what nature can do to us and how we must not take her for granted. It gives many a clarity into life like none other and has profound effects on ones being.

3. Productivity effect:

Change is something a lot of people are not comfortable with. There have been many correlations between disasters and positive economic benefit seen in the longer run. Natural disasters forces ones hand to rebuild what’s lost. Things that require change but have not undergone change just out of disinterest now will have to undergo change. It might sound like an evil man’s saying but it’s not, natural disasters are inevitable and when they pass people rebuild things and reinforce them to make sure mistakes that were made are not made again.

Now that we have seen the positive side of natural disasters let’s look at the negative side of natural disasters.

Negative effects of natural disasters:

1. Economic effects:

Once a natural disaster passes there is huge spike in expenditure to fix what’s broken. A lot of resources and assets get destroyed and replacing them takes a ton of money. A lot of people are left homeless and unable to return to their normal lives. There is also a huge loss of life and these disasters also leave a lot of people injured and needing medical attention. Businesses cease to function and there are huge costs that arise in multiple areas such as medicine, construction, rescue and search operations and so on. Sometimes natural disasters leave places unrepairable and needing complete reconstruction which might or might not be possible depending upon how well financed the region is. Imagine having to rebuild cities where millions used to live, completely from the ground up. Disasters such as those can leave economies crippled forever. After effects of a natural disaster such as during a flood that leaves behind stagnant water that then becomes a breeding ground for water borne diseases such as malaria also are a major cause for concern.These economic impacts might leave people’s lives in jeopardy and disrepair.

2. Environmental effects:

There are also environmental impacts after a natural disaster takes place. There is a mass amount of destruction to the wildlife and we also loose important resources such as trees. Hurricanes, storms and floods also take with them tons of natural resources such as soil when they pass. The loss of huge populations of wildlife can lead some species to extinction. The after effects also might cause further issues.For example, Floods have been known to mix two ecosystems like bringing in new species into a new territory and this might cause the native species to have a harder time surviving.

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