Top 10 Natural Disasters of the Year Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Top 10 Natural Disasters of the Year - Essay Example 10 natural disasters that have made people homeless, children orphan and has taken the lives of millions in the year 2013 are: Chad, Drought (June2012- February 2013) Mindanao floods, Philippines (January)  Ã‚   Yunnan earthquake, China (March)   Guangdong Storm, China (March) Sichuan Earthquake of China (April) Argentina, Buenos Aires floods (April) Namibia, Drought (May) Hubei Flood, Guan gong, China (May) Patuakhali cyclone, Bangladesh (May)   Sichuan Flood, Gansu, China (June) (Aspi, 2013) Chad, Drought (June2012- February 2013) In 2012 Chad experienced the worst drought in its history. From 2010 about five regions of the country have been affected by drought. During this time the production of cereal reduced to 50 percent of the country’s production in 2010’s. To worsen the situation the neighboring countries cut the supply of food and the income on which the citizens of this region rely on. Almost 18 million citizen across Africa faced hunger as a result of this step. It was the poor governance of the concerning authorities and the low quality infrastructure that increased the difficulties of the people affected from drought. Mindanao floods, Philippines (January) It was due to the heavy rain and flood that about 100,000 people got displaced in Manila, Philippines. According to the report presented by National Reduction and Management Council about 23,886 families and 100,994 people flee from their homes due to bad weather conditions. About 5,912 families and 26,828 people were living in 46 evacuation centers across Philippines whereas 19,974 families and 74,166 people were staying with their friends or relatives. Properties worth 71 million were damage as the result of this flood. Assistance worth 3.27 million was provided to the residents affected by flood. Yunnan earthquake, China (March) The area of South Western China that killed hundreds of residents, destroying the houses of hundreds of people also forced people to migrate to a safer place. This earthquake affected a wide area including Yunnan. The magnitude of this earthquake as recorded by the China Earthquake Administration was 5.9 whereas the magnitude reported by U.S. geological survey was 5.9. The China Earthquake Information Administration while citing the provincial civil affair department of Yunnan said that 5 people died as the result of this earthquake and about 17 were injured in the cities of Deqen and Shangri-La. The condition of six injured people is still serious. This earth quake destroyed 600 residential units and around 55,000 of these units were damaged. The flood caused around 9,000 residential units to relocate. Guangdong Storm, China (March) Typhoon Usagi arrived in the province of Guangdong in the south of China, bringing along winds at 165 km per hour accompanied by massive storm and heavy rain and flooding a wide area. At least 25 of the residents died on the first day in the city of Shanweim present in the province of Guangdong. The storm destroyed 7000 homes and around 80,000 people were evacuated from the residential units present in province Fujian. The storm also caused transport network disruption in the southern area China. This Typhoon before hitting Guangdong has been the cause of a number of fatalities in Taiwan and Philippines as well. Sichuan Earthquake of China (April) The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit the Lushan Country area

Paper three Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Paper three - Essay Example However, as a means of comforting themselves, mourners frequently purchase silk linings, pillows, mattresses and other ‘comfort’ items that the non-living corpse will never enjoy, appreciate or even notice. These are the last gifts the living can ever bestow upon their loved one and allows the survivors to feel they haven't simply disposed of the body without ceremony or proper human respect. Although there would seem to be comfort in the belief in the body as merely a shell for the spirit, this idea simply does not offer the sort of comfort it should. As Lynch relates in his book, one woman mourning the death of her teenage daughter following a battle with leukemia reacted violently to the suggestion that the body before her was simple a ‘shell’, claiming "that is my daughter until I tell you otherwise" (85). Mourners continue to feel that their loved one is present somehow and families spend thousands of dollars on burial rites which would be unwarranted i f the body was just the shell. The increased mystery and horror associated with the corpse through children’s stories and zombie media outlets continues to suggest some element of the individual remains. As a result, the corpse retains a sense of power all its own, earning legal protections and capable of conveying more truths about the individual than the ‘shell’ theory would acknowledge. Much of the expense families suffer as a part of the funeral process is spent trying to preserve the body for eternity. Funeral homes make tremendous profit by selling mourners on the promise that the body will be preserved forever with embalming or high quality sealed caskets. Aiken (2001) points out families in California regularly pay as much as $5000 for a funeral in spite of much lower priced options opening the field to widespread corruption. Journalist investigations have revealed funeral home practices intentionally designed to inflate expenses while clergy members have openly admitted accepting a ten percent commission from funeral homes for their recommendations paid at a later date (Winner, 1999). Despite the promises, the only way to prevent the body from dissolving is to cremate the remains, both the cheaper of the available options and the one which automatically eliminates any hope of preserving the body as it was when living. In so many ways, modern society has continued to distance itself from death in ways that take some of the significance out of the event and make instead a frightening mystery. â€Å"Before the turn of the century, Americans may have been more in touch with death and as a result less fearful of the corpse. Farm accidents and childbirth complications caused many deaths in a more agrarian and pre-medically advanced society. Traditionally, Americans used to keep the deceased in their homes until everyone had a chance to view a body† (Emerick 43). By personally preparing the body for display in the front room and ho lding visitation within the home itself, people were more comfortable working with and around a corpse. As a result of this closer association with the dead body, they were also more comfortable with the related concepts of death and dealing with what was left behind. Children, witnessing these events, grew up without the same sorts of aversions to the dead that children today