1. CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURAL
DISASTERS
A perspective about the near future
Antonio J. Díaz Mora – Dic2011

2. This slideshow has been
made in order to present
some of the possible
consequences found by the
scientific community in
relation to the global
temperature increase of the
earth.

3. INTRODUCTION
• Earthquakes, floods, drought and other natural
hazards cause tens of thousands of deaths,
hundreds of thousand injuries and billion of dollars in
economic losses each year around the world.
• About 600 disasters are globally recorded each
year by the Centre of Research on the
Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels.
• The reported number of natural disasters worldwide
has been increasing, from fewer than 100 in 1975 to
more than 400 in 2005.

4. HAZARDS
For instance:
• Cyclones. More than 1,600 storm
• Drought and tracks are dated for the
period 1 January 1980
desertification. through 31 December
• Wild land fires. 2000. It supposes more
than 80 each year.
• Floods.
• Mud floods.
Not all these hazards are
• Storms and hailstorms. directly related with
climate change, but the
• Earthquakes. possible relations between
• Volcanoes. each other, and natural
disasters could increase
• Landslides. enormously the
• Ice avalanches. vulnerability of
populations of all kind of
successes.

5. INTERACTIONS CHAIN
Greenhouse gasses
emissions
Global warming.
Wind and rain
patterns.
Rising sea levels.
Storms, cyclones
and others.
Coast lost, soil
erosion
Less agricultural productivity.
Changes in ecosystem and
biodiversity.
Migration patterns,
biodiversity lost, genetic
resources.

6. NUMBER OF DISASTERS

7. A SAMPLE OF INTERACTION: ARTIC GRACIER RETREAT
• For the last two years, we are
undergoing severe cold
weather episodes in north
America, northern Europe and
eastern Asia. The effects are not
only the loos of ice sheets but
also changes in wind patterns.
• The surface temperature in the
Artic sea is even more higher
than we expected, because of
a phenomenon called ‘Artic
Amplification’. Is is believed to
be caused by the change in
energy absorption, i.e., the
darker surface of the sea
without ice absorbs more solar
energy than the reflective ice.

8. HOW CLIMATE IS AFFECTED BY GLOBAL
WARMING
Glacier
Ocean
disappearance
acidification
and sea level.
Sea Oxygen
temperature depletion
Climate
alteration

9. WHAT WE CAN EXPECT
Changes in tropical storm frequency, intensity and tracks, that
interact with coastal development in urban and rural areas.
Agricultural areas already under pressure from urbanization and
other land use changes will become more susceptible to
drought, severe weather or floods.

10. Source: NASA

12. REFERENCES
• Natural Disaster Hotspots: a global
risk analysis. March 2005. United
Nations. Framework Convention on
Climate Change.
• Centre for Research on the
Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).
• Development Actions and the Rising
Incidence of Disasters. Evaluation
Brief 4. Independent Evaluation
Group. World Bank.