[ppi] [ppiindia] Asian Tsunami Hails Ecological Collapse

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Asian Tsunami Hails Ecological Collapse

Rising seas, coastal development, over-population and
loss of 
mangroves
and coral reefs make such natural disasters more
likely and deadly

Earth Meanders,
http://www.environmentalsustainability.info/
By Dr. Glen Barry
November 28, 2004

Asia's recent utterly tragic tsunami was caused by a
natural 
earthquake,
but worsened by human activities.  The reactionary
anti-Earth right 
has
been quoted several times in recent days as saying it
was only a 
matter of
time until environmentalists blamed the catastrophe on
global warming 
and
other environmental causes.  Well here goes...

There is nothing new in tidal waves and storm surges
hitting 
coastlines. 
This has shaped and molded both coastal geography and
plant 
communities
forever.  This is why traditional peoples rarely lived
right on the 
beach,
preferring to reside back a bit.  This tidal wave was
so damaging 
because
of commercial coastal development, Asia's perilous
over-population, 
and
destruction of protective coastal ecosystems such as
coral reefs (by
over-harvest, climate caused bleaching, and dynamite
fishing) and
mangroves (particularly for shrimp farming).  

The Asian Tsunami is indicative of the types of
problems that global
warming can and will exacerbate.  It is known
conclusively that 
climate
change is raising sea levels, at least 10-20 cm over
the past 
century, and
it is expected this century's increases will be even
greater.  There 
is no
doubt that all else equal, higher sea levels would
contribute to 
greater
damage from such waves.  Simply - if you stand up
quickly in a full
bathtub, it is more likely to overflow than if half
full.  

Rising sea levels - in the absence of protective coral
reefs and
mangroves, and presence of recent human coastal
developments -
guarantee that any tidal wave will prove maximally
destructive.  As 
Jeff
McNeely, chief scientist of the Swiss-based World
Conservation Union
(IUCN), explains:  "When a tsunami comes in, it first
hits the coral 
reef
which slows it down, then it hits the mangroves which
further slows it
down. It may get through that but by then a lot of the
energy has 
already
been dissipated."

This tidal wave is the most recent "natural disaster"
indicative of
ecological collapse commencing on a planetary scale,
first exhibiting
itself particularly hard in Asia. This is because Asia
is unrivaled in
terms of intensive land alterations and ecological
destruction over
millennia.  This is anything but an aberration, as
deadly flooding and
droughts have become routine in deforested areas of
the Philippines,
Indonesia and China.

Simply, Asia's current population can not be sustained
given current
natural capital and spiraling climate change.  Asian
ecosystems have
overshot their carrying capacity, and we are
witnessing what happens 
when
humans live without regard to ecology.  Lasting social
recovery and
ecological sustainability throughout Tsunami impacted
coastal Asia 
will
depend upon restoring mangroves, coral reefs and other
natural coastal
ecosystems, while restricting coastal development.  

More systematically - in Asia, and indeed globally -
failure to 
address
climate change, deforestation and over-population
means massive
man-abetted natural disasters will increasingly become
the norm.  

This observation is made with utmost respect and
concern for current 
and
future victims of ecocide.  Humanity has long abused
the Earth - and 
we
continue to do so at great risk.  The Earth does not
belong to us, we
belong to the Earth.  As goes the Earth will go
humanity.


** Earth Meanders is a series of personal essays
regarding 
environmental
sustainability and related matters.  Opinions
expressed are those of 
the
author.  An archive of past writings can be found at: 
http://earthmeanders.blogspot.com/ 

Please post comments there - emailed comments will be
posted there, 
attributed only to your first name.

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