Introduction to the Ecological Dimensions of Climate Change and Disasters

Every year, a number of disasters occur and grab and hold global attention, at least for a short period of time. In 2010, the world witnessed an earthquake in Haiti at the start of the year, another one in Chile a month later, massive flooding in Pakistan, an intense summer heat wave and wildfires in Russia, and widespread flooding in Mexico. The images of destruction from these events are heartbreaking, and the damage estimates are staggering. Moreover, there are also hundreds of small-scale disasters that occur every year that are seldom reported on outside of local areas. In any given year, there are more than 700 natural catastrophic events, resulting in billions of dollars of damage and asset loss, and unquantifiable human suffering. In the first 9 months of 2010 alone, more than 236,000 people were killed and 256 million people were affected by disasters at a cost of 81 billion dollars (Center for Research in the Epidemiology of Disasters, 2010). Disasters, both large and small, erode away at a community or country’s ability to develop, by diverting resources for development towards rescue, recovery, and reconstruction measures; by fraying social safety nets and networks; and reducing economic productivity. GDP losses due to disasters range from 2% to 15%.