THE PHILIPPINES and other Asia-Pacific countries remain the most disaster-prone in the world, a new report by the United Nations said, with over 40% of the disasters around the globe and more than 80% of disaster-affected people located in the region.
The UN’s Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2015 placed the Philippines in second place among 15 countries that had the highest risk from natural disasters. The report noted that 9 out of the 15 were also in the Asia-Pacific Region, led by the South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu.
The Philippines also placed third (after Vanuatu and Tonga) among 15 countries that have the highest exposure to natural disasters, together with Japan, Brunei, and Bangladesh among others.
“Although their fatalities and losses are small in absolute numbers, each disaster typically affects a high proportion of their populations and their economic activity,” the report noted of the Asia-Pacific Region countries in the list.
The UN report said the most vulnerable countries in the region, including the Philippines, are the small island developing states (SIDS), least developed countries (LDCs), and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs).
The Asia-Pacific region, the report said, has the world’s two most seismically active areas -- the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” to which is attributed 90% of the world’s earthquakes, and the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt.
Of the annual 86 tropical cyclones in the globe, 50 to 60 arise from three Asia Pacific Basins, making the region the most affected by these weather disturbances.
The report also cited the vulnerability of Asia-Pacific nations to catastrophic flooding, volcanic eruptions, and droughts.
The UN report said between the 1970s and the period 2005-2014, economic cost of natural disasters in the region -- mostly damage in housing, transport, and agriculture -- rose from $52 billion to a staggering $523 billion.
The damage has also been increasing a proportion of the gross domestic product, from 0.16% in the 1970s to 0.34% in the decade 2005-2014.
“If ‘losses’ in terms of lost income and increased cost of production due to above damage to assets are counted, then the total economic costs would be much higher,” the report said.
The Philippines also placed third (after Vanuatu and Tonga) among 15 countries that have the highest exposure to natural disasters, together with Japan, Brunei, and Bangladesh among others.
“Although their fatalities and losses are small in absolute numbers, each disaster typically affects a high proportion of their populations and their economic activity,” the report noted of the Asia-Pacific Region countries in the list.
The UN report said the most vulnerable countries in the region, including the Philippines, are the small island developing states (SIDS), least developed countries (LDCs), and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs).
The Asia-Pacific region, the report said, has the world’s two most seismically active areas -- the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” to which is attributed 90% of the world’s earthquakes, and the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt.
Of the annual 86 tropical cyclones in the globe, 50 to 60 arise from three Asia Pacific Basins, making the region the most affected by these weather disturbances.
The report also cited the vulnerability of Asia-Pacific nations to catastrophic flooding, volcanic eruptions, and droughts.
The UN report said between the 1970s and the period 2005-2014, economic cost of natural disasters in the region -- mostly damage in housing, transport, and agriculture -- rose from $52 billion to a staggering $523 billion.
The damage has also been increasing a proportion of the gross domestic product, from 0.16% in the 1970s to 0.34% in the decade 2005-2014.
“If ‘losses’ in terms of lost income and increased cost of production due to above damage to assets are counted, then the total economic costs would be much higher,” the report said.
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