GCE A Level Paper 1 2001 Qn 4: In what ways does a country both benefit and suffer from where it is situated?

Article #1: Geographical that affect development factors

can get two harvests in one year. Some countries are just at a natural disadvantage. Location Secondly, geographical location plays a part in access to markets. All the great empires have been based around trade routes, and these are almost always maritime. There are notable exceptions, the medieval Mongol empire was based on the Silk Road from China to the west, but Jeffrey Sachs sums it up well in his important book The End of Poverty: Many of the worlds poorest countries are severely hindered because they are landlocked; situated in high mountain ranges; or lack navigable rivers, long coastlines, or good natural harbours. China has three of the worlds busiest ports, and so does the US. With ports you can raise money through tolls and shipping services. If you have no access to the coast, not only do you miss out on these services, you have to transport everything by land, which is much more expensive. And what if your neighbours dont like you? Icebound on its northern coastlines, Russian has squabbled for centuries over access to a warm water port, the Crimean War being the most serious. Countries like Afghanistan, Rwanda, Malawi, or Bolivia are all hindered by access to ports. Other countries, like Ethiopia or Lesotho, are not only landlocked, but mountainous as well, making trade even more expensive. Resources Thirdly, every country has been dealt a hand in natural resources. It takes infrastructure to capitalise on these, but some places have a distinct advantage over others. Oil is the

Source: http://makewealthhistory.org/2007/07/01/geographicalfactors-that-affect-development/ This is part 2 in a series on why some countries remain poor. Climate One of the most important factors in development is geography, where the country is in the world, and climate. Its no coincidence that the poorest countries are in the tropics, where it is hot, the land is less fertile, water is more scarce, where diseases flourish. Conversely, Europe and North America profit from huge tracts of very fertile land, a temperate climate, and good rainfall. In extremes of climate, either hot or cold, too much energy goes into the simple business of survival for there to be much leftover energy for development. You have to work twice as hard to get enough to eat out of the ground, you have to irrigate where others can depend on rainfall. It may be too hot to work between 11 and 2, so you lose three hours out of every day. Rain patterns may give you a short growing season, while others

most obvious. Nobody is any doubt about how Saudi Arabia or UAE make their money. Among other advantages, gold and diamonds have helped South Africa build the most successful economy on the continent. These are all nonrenewable resources once theyre gone, theyre gone, but while stocks last there is wealth to be made. Besides these there are renewable resources forests, fish, stocks that, if correctly managed, will refresh themselves. Much South American development has been based on the Amazon rainforest, in natural rubber and then timber. Finally, there are what are sometimes called flow resources. These are renewables that need no management, wind, tide and solar resources. The Earth Policy Institute describes the American Great Plains as the Saudi Arabia of wind energy, while sunshine-rich places like California, Sicily and Portugal are able to invest in solar power. No natural resource is a license to print money, and there are plenty of poor countries who are rich in resources, but it is a factor. Stability Finally, environmental stability can be a factor in development. Some countries are more stable than others. Mohammad Yunus makes this point in describing his book Banker to the Poor: Bangladesh is a land of natural disasters, so this is unfortunately an important factor in our doing business here. If you are regularly beset by monsoons, floods and landslides, like Bangladesh or the Philippines, things are going to be harder for you. You may be in an earthquake zone, and weve all seen what a tsunami can do to a country. Where I grew up in Madagascar, the annual cyclone season regularly swept away roads and bridges, damaged railways

and refineries, and took the roofs of houses and hotels all along the east coast. How do you build and sustain infrastructure in those conditions? Its not impossible, but these are problems most countries dont have to face.

Article #2: Philippines and Disasters

The Diplomat, February 9, 2012 By Mong Palatino A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Negros and Cebu provinces in central Philippines on Monday afternoon, killing dozens of people on the two major islands of the Visayas region. Strong aftershocks plus a false tsunami alert caused panic in several coastal towns. The casualties are bound to rise in quake-damaged villages as rescuers continue to search for survivors. The earthquake is the latest disaster to hit the Philippines in the past two months. Last December, heavy rainfall caused flashfloods in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in north Mindanao, killing more than a thousand people and destroying the homes of an estimated 100,000 families. Barely a month after this tragedy, a landslide buried more than 30 people in a small mining community in Pantukan, Compostela Valley in southern Mindanao. Several provinces including Cebu, Davao, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, Negros, Leyte and Aklan have also suffered from floods since January. What makes this wave of flood disasters more worrisome, aside from the human casualties, is the fact that there was no major recent tropical cyclone to hit the country to trigger the floods and mudslides. Residents living near river banks

are already thinking of relocating because if normal rains alone can cause such destructive floods, the impact of strong typhoons could well be much worse. The Philippines is actually one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Situated inside the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippine archipelago is battered by at least 25 major storms every year. And because of climate change, it also suffers from extreme weather disturbances. Next month, several parts of the country are expected to experience an extended period of drought due to the El Nino phenomenon. But to pin the blame on climate change for the casualties is wrong since many of the weather-related deaths are preventable. It must be emphasized that the negative effects of climate change are compounded by poverty, bad governance, and destructive economic activities. The governments inefficiency during crisis situations was exposed when it failed to mobilize its resources on time and coordinate the efforts of all agencies during the recent flooding and earthquake disasters. The public has the right to demand the formulation of a comprehensive disaster risk reduction program that can save lives and minimize casualties during freak weather events. Indeed, politicians were able to gather and distribute relief goods to survivors, but scientists and environmentalists insist that the government should have prioritized the setting up of an effective early warning system, emergency drills, quick response teams, and the construction of adequate infrastructure in calamity-prone areas as part of its disaster

preparedness program. The geo-hazard map that the government has already completed would be rendered useless if theres no concrete national disaster management plan. The present government also has to explain why it re-issued logging and mining permits in landslide-prone provinces. At a minimum, it should review all large-scale mining activities and determine their impact on the countrys fragile island ecosystem. It should also reconsider the petition of multinational companies to expand their fruit plantations in the uplands of Mindanao Island. The inconvenient truths of climate change have already been thoroughly discussed by academics, the media and even government institutions. Everybody knows that strong typhoons, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions are common in this part of the world. The Philippines is a country that should excel in disaster preparedness, but unfortunately its climate change adaptation program is a major disaster.

Article #3: Oil-rich Blessing or curse?

African

nations:

The Star, WEDNESDAY, 28 MARCH 2012 00:02 COMPILED BY PAULINE ODHIAMBO Some people have said that Africa is cursed - with resources. Although the continent is blessed with abundant resources, many still languish in abject poverty. Chief among the resources drawing new interest from major companies around the globe is oil. Kenya is the latest addition to the list of oil-endowed countries after the 'black gold' was

discovered in Turkana North district by British company Tullow. According to the company, the deposits have similar properties to the light waxy crude that it discovered in Uganda two years ago. The question in many peoples' minds, however, is if Kenya will fall to the trap that has befallen many countries in the continent - the tragedy of the 'resource curse'. John Ghazvinian, author of Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil, writes that although the continent has seen the influx of oil drillers and investment, most Africans are seeing little benefit. In fact, because of the 'resource curse' economic paradox, "they are often hurt by exports of their countries' oil. " He notes that between 1970 and 1993, countries without oil saw their economies grow four times faster than those of countries with oil. As Kenya, embarks on major oil exploration campaign, we should learn from countries like Algeria where oil has been a blessing and keep off the road travelled by Nigeria where oil has been a curse. ALGERIA In spite of its riches in oil, Algerias economy (dominated by its oil and natural gas industry) must diversify its exports and create jobs to help tackle its problem of high youth unemployment, says a report by the IMF. In its annual assessment of the economy, the IMF notes that Algerias economic performance has been good, but that the country remains highly dependent on oil and gas and on public

expenditure. The Algerian economy is dominated by its oil and gas resources, which account for 98 per cent of the countrys exports. The countrys macroeconomic performance over the past decade has been solid. Because of relatively high oil prices combined with prudent macroeconomic policies, Algeria was able to achieve relatively strong growth, low inflation, and a sharp reduction in public and external debt. It has also accumulated large external reserves and budget resources in an oil stabilisation fund, which helped to shield the country from the decline in international hydrocarbon prices in 2009. However, major challenges remainforemost of which is unemployment, which remains high, especially among the youth. Still, thanks to its oil reserves, Algeria has come a long way from a decade ago when youth unemployment exceeded 50 per cent. Nevertheless, 21 per cent unemployment among the Algerian youth today is still major cause for concern. Algeria struck oil in 1956 (around the same time as Nigeria) and the Northern African country has since become an important exporter of both oil and natural gas. Algeria is today third largest supplier of natural gas to Europe and major plans are underway to expand oil pipeline infrastructure to Italy (via Tunisia) and to Spain (both directed undersea and via Morocco). The country also plans to its expand exports in liquefied natural gas export capability in addition to expanding total natural gas exports to 85 bcm per year, making their

production roughly the equivalent of Norway (Europes second largest provider). Significantly, the potential to expand natural gas supplies to Europe enhances Algerias importance as an alternative supplier in light of current dependence on uncertain Russian gas supplies. Algeria also faces an active Islamist insurgency, a separate threat from the rising al-Qa'ida in the land of the Islamic Maghreb, and serious demographic challenges in the form of a 1.22 per cent population growth rate and sharp ethnic divisions. However, in contrast to Nigeria, Algeria boasts a higher GDP US$192.384 billion and a lower unemployment rate. NIGERIA Nigeria is the largest oil-producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, with about 32 per cent and 34.2 per cent of Africas oil and gas reserves respectively. It is the fifth largest exporting country in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the fifth largest oil-exporting country to the US. Like many oilproducing countries, Nigeria suffers recurrent violent conflicts associated with the management of oil resources. In early 1967, oil-related disputes motivated an insurrection by a major ethnic group in the Niger Delta (the repository of almost all of the nations oil and gas reserves). Less t han a year after, the nation experienced a civil war (the Biafran war of 1967-70), which was linked with disagreements over the sharing of oil revenues. While the country has managed to maintain a fragile post-war peace, since the mid 1990s, there are reported on-going incidences of violence in the Niger Delta region leading to the kidnapping of foreign oil

workers for ransom and vandalisation or explosions of oil reserves. The Niger Delta is estimated to have claimed the lives of about 1,000 people a year between 1999 and 2004 on a par with conflicts in Chechnya and Columbia. Production of crude oil began in the country in December 1957. While six major foreign oil companies (Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Elf, Agip and Texaco) presently dominate Nigerias oil industry, the Nigerian government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, established in 1971, has traditionally held majority shareholding interests in these companies. Corruption has been the bane of the Nigerian oil industry in addition to complicated tax rules and limited technical and institutional capability that makes it difficult to monitor oil revenue. Over the last 25 years, Nigeria has received over $300 billion in oil revenues after pay deductions the foreign oil companies, yet despite this staggering amount the country is still steeped in poverty. In 1965, Nigerias oil revenue per capita was about US$33, per capita GDP was US$245. However, in 2000 when oil revenue grew to US$325 per capita, per capita GDP remained at the 1965 level, implying that the oil revenue accumulated over the 35-year period between 1960 and 2000 did not at all improve the standard of living of Nigerians. The percentage of Nigerians living below the United Nations US$1 per day poverty line has risen from 27 in 1980 to 66 in 1996, and 70 in 2000.

Article #4: Top 5 worst natural disasters of 2011

From Japan to the United States, it was another bad year for natural disasters. News Desk, December 30, 2011 As far as natural disasters are concerned, it would be difficult to experience a year worse than 2010. With a string of devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and then several massive volcanic eruptions in Iceland and Indonesia, along with the usual flooding, landslides and tropical storms, many people wrote around this time last year that 2010 was a year defined by disasters. Well, while 2011 might be better defined by protests, it did its best to live up to 2010's natural havoc as mother nature continued its apparent retaliation against man from Japan to Africa to the United States. Here's a look at some of the most-severe natural calamities to strike in 2011. 1) Earthquake in Japan Talk about a butterfly effect. The 8.9-magnitude earthquake one the strongest earthquakes ever recorded that struck off of Japan's coast on March 11 would have been the year's worst disaster by itself. But it was the tsunami it triggered that would cause the most lasting damage. The surge of water reached 30 feet high and traveled more than three miles inland. More than 15,000 people were killed by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. But it is the nuclear meltdown that the tsunami caused that everyone is talking about and will likely be talking about for years to come. Some think the world

could ultimately come to view Fukushima as being worse than Chernobyl. 2) Drought in East Africa A widespread drought across Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti over the summer laid waste to food and water supplies across the region, sparking the worst famine in decades. Somalia, already a failed state at the best of times, was the hardest hit. An armed conflict with Al Shabaab, the local offshoot of Al Qaeda, only exacerbated the problem. The famine worsened in September as the United Nations reported that half the country was in need of emergency aid. It now estimates that as many as 30,000 children have died as a result. 3) Floods in Thailand Thailand suffered through the worst flooding in half a century this year, inundating large swathes of Bangkok, its densely populated capital. The waters first began to rise in July, and the flooding continued through December. Thai officials say that about 800 people have been killed as a result of the floods, but some suggest that number is likely higher. More than 12 million people were affected and the financial cost has been astronomical. The World Bank reported this month that damages could reach as high as $45 billion making it one of the costliest disasters in recent history. 4) Typhoon in the Philippines Tropical Storm Washi might be the most under-covered natural disaster of 2011, and it just happened. The storm first made landfall on Dec. 16 over Mindanao, the second-largest and easternmost island of the archipelago. It is the site of a long-running separatist

conflict, which has complicated rescue efforts. In less than 12 hours, about 8 inches of rain blanketed the region, triggering flash floods and landslides. So far more than 1,200 people have been reported killed as a result, and that number is expected to rise. More than half a million people have lost their homes, according to government officials in the Philippines. 5) Storms in the United States It's rare for the United States to make these kinds of lists, with the exception perhaps of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But it makes the list for 2011 because of a combination of unusual and severe weather events that in total caused the country $35 billion in damages and killed more than 700 people. Numerous tornadoes, flooding, a drought and a blizzard have all combined to at times cripple regions of the United States. On April 27, more than 300 tornadoes four of those reaching the highest level on the tornado severity scale ripped through the Southeast, leveling whole towns and killing 321 people. The unprecedented tornado outbreak was quickly followed a month later, on May 22, by another level five tornado in Joplin, Missouri that wiped out the town and killed 158 people. Add to that a devastating winter blizzard in the Midwest, Hurricane Irene on the East Coast and a massive drought across the South, and 2011 becomes one of the worst year's for natural disaster in United States history.

Article #5: Most Recent Natural Disasters were not the centurys worst
US Geographical Survey Dateline: 12/30/99 Killer landslides in Venezuela and Mexico. Devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan. Massive floods along the East Coast of the United States. Nature has dealt staggering blows to the Earth and its people in 1999. But these were not the worst disasters of the century, either in the power of the events or in the loss of life and property that they caused. "The costs of natural disasters -- lives lost, homes destroyed, economies disrupted -- have skyrocketed in this century, as the world's population has grown and has moved onto areas that are vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, and other natural hazards," said USGS Director Chip Groat. "But there is reason for hope. By understanding how and where these natural events occur, so that we can build and live safely on the Earth, and by providing real-time information about floods, earthquakes, and other hazards, so that we can respond effectively when disaster strikes, the USGS is helping build stronger, safer communities that are resilient to natural disaster." Landslides Landslides, lethal mixtures of water, rocks, and mud, generally are triggered by earthquakes, volcanoes, or weather events. The two largest landslides in the world this century occurred at Mount St. Helens, Washington, in 1980 and at Usoy, Tajikistan, in 1911. At Mount St. Helens, a

moderate earthquake caused roughly 1.7 cubic miles of rocks and mud to break free and slide down the side of the volcano, releasing pent-up pressure to produce the major eruption of May 18. Although this was the largest landslide recorded in historic time, fewer than 60 people were killed because most residents and visitors had been evacuated. The Usoy landslide, also triggered by an earthquake, moved 1.5 cubic miles of material and built a dam 1880 feet high (half again as high as the Empire State Building) on the Murgob River; the dam still impounds a lake nearly 40 miles long. This landslide took place in a sparsely populated area and thus caused few deaths. An earthquake was responsible for the deadliest landslide this century, which caused 40,000-50,000 deaths in western Iran on June 20, 1990. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake at Mount Huascaran, Peru, on May 21, 1970, triggered a rock and snow avalanche that buried the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca, killing perhaps as many as 20,000 people. Weather-related landslides also proved deadly in recent years. The death toll is still unclear from the rain-caused landslides that hit Venezuela in mid-December of this year; official estimates are as high as 30,000 deaths. On October 30, 1998, the day of peak rainfall as Hurricane Mitch moved across Central America, the side of Casita Volcano collapsed, creating a landslide/mudflow that wiped out two towns in Nicaragua and killed more than 2,000 people. The most costly landslide in U.S. history was a relatively slow-moving event in Thistle, Utah, in the spring of 1983. The landslide, caused by the wet El Nino winter of 1982-83, dammed the Spanish Fork River and buried U.S. Highway 6 and the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western

Railroad. The town of Thistle was inundated under the floodwaters rising behind the landslide dam. Total losses were estimated at more than $400 million in 1983 dollars. Earthquakes The largest earthquake this century was a magnitude 9.5 event that struck Chile on May 22, 1960. More than 2,000 people were killed in Chile, Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines from this earthquake and the deadly tsunami that the earthquake created. The most powerful earthquake in the United States, and the second largest in the world this century, was a magnitude 9.2 temblor in Alaska, the Good Friday earthquake of 1964. This great earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 125 lives and caused about $310 million in property loss. The planet's deadliest earthquake of the century, by far, was a magnitude 8.0 that struck Tianjin , China, on July 27, 1976. The official casualty figure issued by the Chinese government was 255,000, but unofficial estimates of the death toll were as high as 655,000. The most destructive U.S. earthquake was the Great San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. Though its magnitude was 7.7, and the energy less than 1/30th the energy released by the 1964 Alaska event, the San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires caused an estimated 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss. Volcanoes The largest eruption in the world this century occurred June 6-9, 1912, at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula. An estimated 9 cubic miles of magma was explosively erupted during 60 hours beginning on June 6 - more than twice the volume of the Pinatubo eruption in 1991, the second largest this century, and about 30 times the volume erupted by

Mount St. Helens in 1980. More than a foot of volcanic ash from this enormous eruption collapsed roofs in the village of Kodiak, 100 miles away, and choked rivers and streams, devastating Alaska's fishing industry. Several villages along Alaska's southeast coast were abandoned forever. Because most of the native populations heeded the volcano's warning signals and evacuated before the climactic eruption, few or no people were killed, although animal and plant life suffered greatly--bears, other large mammals, and birds were blinded by ash and starved when the plants and small mammals they depended on were destroyed. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, on June 15, 1991, blasted about 1 cubic mile of ash and rock into the atmosphere. Avalanches of hot ash, gas, and fragments of pumice roared down the mountainside, filling valleys with as much as 600 feet of volcanic debris. The deposits will retain much of their heat for decades; even 5 years later they were measured at 900 degrees F. Close cooperation between the USGS and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology enabled the eruption to be forecast accurately, saving at least 5,000 lives. Killer landslides in Venezuela and Mexico. Devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan. Massive floods along the East Coast of the United States. Nature has dealt staggering blows to the Earth and its people in 1999. But these were not the worst disasters of the century, either in the power of the events or in the loss of life and property that they caused. "The costs of natural disasters -- lives lost, homes destroyed, economies disrupted -- have skyrocketed in this century, as

the world's population has grown and has moved onto areas that are vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, and other natural hazards," said USGS Director Chip Groat. "But there is reason for hope. By understanding how and where these natural events occur, so that we can build and live safely on the Earth, and by providing real-time information about floods, earthquakes, and other hazards, so that we can respond effectively when disaster strikes, the USGS is helping build stronger, safer communities that are resilient to natural disaster." Landslides Landslides, lethal mixtures of water, rocks, and mud, generally are triggered by earthquakes, volcanoes, or weather events. The two largest landslides in the world this century occurred at Mount St. Helens, Washington, in 1980 and at Usoy, Tajikistan, in 1911. At Mount St. Helens, a moderate earthquake caused roughly 1.7 cubic miles of rocks and mud to break free and slide down the side of the volcano, releasing pent-up pressure to produce the major eruption of May 18. Although this was the largest landslide recorded in historic time, fewer than 60 people were killed because most residents and visitors had been evacuated. The Usoy landslide, also triggered by an earthquake, moved 1.5 cubic miles of material and built a dam 1880 feet high (half again as high as the Empire State Building) on the Murgob River; the dam still impounds a lake nearly 40 miles long. This landslide took place in a sparsely populated area and thus caused few deaths. An earthquake was responsible for the deadliest landslide this century, which caused 40,000-50,000 deaths in western Iran on June 20, 1990. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake at Mount

Huascaran, Peru, on May 21, 1970, triggered a rock and snow avalanche that buried the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca, killing perhaps as many as 20,000 people. Weather-related landslides also proved deadly in recent years. The death toll is still unclear from the rain-caused landslides that hit Venezuela in mid-December of this year; official estimates are as high as 30,000 deaths. On October 30, 1998, the day of peak rainfall as Hurricane Mitch moved across Central America, the side of Casita Volcano collapsed, creating a landslide/mudflow that wiped out two towns in Nicaragua and killed more than 2,000 people. The most costly landslide in U.S. history was a relatively slow-moving event in Thistle, Utah, in the spring of 1983. The landslide, caused by the wet El Nino winter of 1982-83, dammed the Spanish Fork River and buried U.S. Highway 6 and the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The town of Thistle was inundated under the floodwaters rising behind the landslide dam. Total losses were estimated at more than $400 million in 1983 dollars. Earthquakes The largest earthquake this century was a magnitude 9.5 event that struck Chile on May 22, 1960. More than 2,000 people were killed in Chile, Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines from this earthquake and the deadly tsunami that the earthquake created. The most powerful earthquake in the United States, and the second largest in the world this century, was a magnitude 9.2 temblor in Alaska, the Good Friday earthquake of 1964. This great earthquake and

ensuing tsunami took 125 lives and caused about $310 million in property loss. The planet's deadliest earthquake of the century, by far, was a magnitude 8.0 that struck Tianjin , China, on July 27, 1976. The official casualty figure issued by the Chinese government was 255,000, but unofficial estimates of the death toll were as high as 655,000. The most destructive U.S. earthquake was the Great San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. Though its magnitude was 7.7, and the energy less than 1/30th the energy released by the 1964 Alaska event, the San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires caused an estimated 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss. Volcanoes The largest eruption in the world this century occurred June 6-9, 1912, at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula. An estimated 9 cubic miles of magma was explosively erupted during 60 hours beginning on June 6 - more than twice the volume of the Pinatubo eruption in 1991, the second largest this century, and about 30 times the volume erupted by Mount St. Helens in 1980. More than a foot of volcanic ash from this enormous eruption collapsed roofs in the village of Kodiak, 100 miles away, and choked rivers and streams, devastating Alaska's fishing industry. Several villages along Alaska's southeast coast were abandoned forever. Because most of the native populations heeded the volcano's warning signals and evacuated before the climactic eruption, few or no people were killed, although animal and plant life suffered greatly--bears, other large mammals, and birds were blinded by ash and starved when the plants and small mammals they depended on were destroyed.

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The eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, on June 15, 1991, blasted about 1 cubic mile of ash and rock into the atmosphere. Avalanches of hot ash, gas, and fragments of pumice roared down the mountainside, filling valleys with as much as 600 feet of volcanic debris. The deposits will retain much of their heat for decades; even 5 years later they were measured at 900 degrees F. Close cooperation between the USGS and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology enabled the eruption to be forecast accurately, saving at least 5,000 lives. The deadliest eruption of the century was at Mont Pele in Martinique, Lesser Antilles, in 1902. The coastal town of St. Pierre, about 4 miles downslope to the south, was demolished, and nearly 30,000 inhabitants were killed by an incandescent, high-velocity ash flow and associated hot gases and volcanic dust. And a small eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia on November 13, 1985, melted about 10 percent of the volcano's ice cover, leading to a massive mudflow that inundated the city of Armero and killed more than 23,000 people. Floods On average, floods cause more deaths each year than any other natural disaster, and the Galveston hurricane-induced flood of September 1900 was by far the deadliest flood in the United States this century, taking at least 6,000 lives. In 1927, the lower Mississippi flooded, inundating around 27,000 square miles and killing hundreds of people - more than 1,000 by some estimates. The great Midwest flood of 1993 was the costliest flood in U.S. history, with estimated

damages of $20 billion; however, only around 50 lives were lost. U.S. losses of life are dwarfed by flood losses in other parts of the world. China and Bangladesh have been devastated repeatedly by floods - Bangladesh lost 300,000 people in November 1970 and more than 130,000 in April 1991, from cyclone-induced flooding, and the massive flooding of the Yangtze River in China in 1931 caused more than 3 million deaths from flooding and starvation. Killer landslides in Venezuela and Mexico. Devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan. Massive floods along the East Coast of the United States. Nature has dealt staggering blows to the Earth and its people in 1999. But these were not the worst disasters of the century, either in the power of the events or in the loss of life and property that they caused. "The costs of natural disasters -- lives lost, homes destroyed, economies disrupted -- have skyrocketed in this century, as the world's population has grown and has moved onto areas that are vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, and other natural hazards," said USGS Director Chip Groat. "But there is reason for hope. By understanding how and where these natural events occur, so that we can build and live safely on the Earth, and by providing real-time information about floods, earthquakes, and other hazards, so that we can respond effectively when disaster strikes, the USGS is helping build stronger, safer communities that are resilient to natural disaster." Landslides

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Landslides, lethal mixtures of water, rocks, and mud, generally are triggered by earthquakes, volcanoes, or weather events. The two largest landslides in the world this century occurred at Mount St. Helens, Washington, in 1980 and at Usoy, Tajikistan, in 1911. At Mount St. Helens, a moderate earthquake caused roughly 1.7 cubic miles of rocks and mud to break free and slide down the side of the volcano, releasing pent-up pressure to produce the major eruption of May 18. Although this was the largest landslide recorded in historic time, fewer than 60 people were killed because most residents and visitors had been evacuated. The Usoy landslide, also triggered by an earthquake, moved 1.5 cubic miles of material and built a dam 1880 feet high (half again as high as the Empire State Building) on the Murgob River; the dam still impounds a lake nearly 40 miles long. This landslide took place in a sparsely populated area and thus caused few deaths. An earthquake was responsible for the deadliest landslide this century, which caused 40,000-50,000 deaths in western Iran on June 20, 1990. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake at Mount Huascaran, Peru, on May 21, 1970, triggered a rock and snow avalanche that buried the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca, killing perhaps as many as 20,000 people. Weather-related landslides also proved deadly in recent years. The death toll is still unclear from the rain-caused landslides that hit Venezuela in mid-December of this year; official estimates are as high as 30,000 deaths. On October 30, 1998, the day of peak rainfall as Hurricane Mitch moved across Central America, the side of Casita Volcano collapsed, creating a landslide/mudflow that wiped out two towns in Nicaragua and killed more than 2,000 people.

The most costly landslide in U.S. history was a relatively slow-moving event in Thistle, Utah, in the spring of 1983. The landslide, caused by the wet El Nino winter of 1982-83, dammed the Spanish Fork River and buried U.S. Highway 6 and the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The town of Thistle was inundated under the floodwaters rising behind the landslide dam. Total losses were estimated at more than $400 million in 1983 dollars. Earthquakes The largest earthquake this century was a magnitude 9.5 event that struck Chile on May 22, 1960. More than 2,000 people were killed in Chile, Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines from this earthquake and the deadly tsunami that the earthquake created. The most powerful earthquake in the United States, and the second largest in the world this century, was a magnitude 9.2 temblor in Alaska, the Good Friday earthquake of 1964. This great earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 125 lives and caused about $310 million in property loss. The planet's deadliest earthquake of the century, by far, was a magnitude 8.0 that struck Tianjin , China, on July 27, 1976. The official casualty figure issued by the Chinese government was 255,000, but unofficial estimates of the death toll were as high as 655,000. The most destructive U.S. earthquake was the Great San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. Though its magnitude was 7.7, and the energy less than 1/30th the energy released by the 1964 Alaska event, the San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires caused an estimated 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss.

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Volcanoes The largest eruption in the world this century occurred June 6-9, 1912, at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula. An estimated 9 cubic miles of magma was explosively erupted during 60 hours beginning on June 6 - more than twice the volume of the Pinatubo eruption in 1991, the second largest this century, and about 30 times the volume erupted by Mount St. Helens in 1980. More than a foot of volcanic ash from this enormous eruption collapsed roofs in the village of Kodiak, 100 miles away, and choked rivers and streams, devastating Alaska's fishing industry. Several villages along Alaska's southeast coast were abandoned forever. Because most of the native populations heeded the volcano's warning signals and evacuated before the climactic eruption, few or no people were killed, although animal and plant life suffered greatly--bears, other large mammals, and birds were blinded by ash and starved when the plants and small mammals they depended on were destroyed. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, on June 15, 1991, blasted about 1 cubic mile of ash and rock into the atmosphere. Avalanches of hot ash, gas, and fragments of pumice roared down the mountainside, filling valleys with as much as 600 feet of volcanic debris. The deposits will retain much of their heat for decades; even 5 years later they were measured at 900 degrees F. Close cooperation between the USGS and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology enabled the eruption to be forecast accurately, saving at least 5,000 lives. The deadliest eruption of the century was at Mont Pele in Martinique, Lesser Antilles, in 1902. The coastal town of St. Pierre, about 4 miles downslope to the south, was demolished, and nearly 30,000 inhabitants were killed by an

incandescent, high-velocity ash flow and associated hot gases and volcanic dust. And a small eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia on November 13, 1985, melted about 10 percent of the volcano's ice cover, leading to a massive mudflow that inundated the city of Armero and killed more than 23,000 people. Floods On average, floods cause more deaths each year than any other natural disaster, and the Galveston hurricane-induced flood of September 1900 was by far the deadliest flood in the United States this century, taking at least 6,000 lives. In 1927, the lower Mississippi flooded, inundating around 27,000 square miles and killing hundreds of people - more than 1,000 by some estimates. The great Midwest flood of 1993 was the costliest flood in U.S. history, with estimated damages of $20 billion; however, only around 50 lives were lost. U.S. losses of life are dwarfed by flood losses in other parts of the world. China and Bangladesh have been devastated repeatedly by floods - Bangladesh lost 300,000 people in November 1970 and more than 130,000 in April 1991, from cyclone-induced flooding, and the massive flooding of the Yangtze River in China in 1931 caused more than 3 million deaths from flooding and starvation. "Earthquakes, landslides, floods - these hazards are part of the way the Earth operates," said USGS Director Chip Groat. "Although we can't prevent natural hazards from happening, we can learn from them, and use this knowledge to prevent natural hazards from turning into natural disasters." "The next century gives us a new chance to apply the lessons we have learned about natural hazards," said Groat. "As we look ahead to the next millennium, we must continue to improve

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both our understanding of how the earth works and our ability to provide timely, effective, warnings, so that we can live safely on our planet." As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the conservation and the sound economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources.

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