natural disasters in myanmar essay

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Climate, environmental degradation and disaster risk in myanmar: a mimu analytical brief (may 2022), attachments.

This Analytical Brief focuses on the changing landscape of Myanmar in terms of climate, environmental degradation and disaster risk based on a review of recent research, hazard modelling and available data. It reviews the changing areas and populations at risk of exposure to natural disasters.

Myanmar is one of the of the world’s most affected countries in terms of natural disasters, and among the most vulnerable to new disasters in the years to come. In addition to significant loss of life, livelihoods, and property, natural disasters are estimated to cost up to 3% of Myanmar’s annual GDP, and the longer-term impacts may be still greater.

Changing climate and environmental degradation are influencing the frequency and severity of natural hazards in Myanmar, with predictions of more frequent and more severe floods, storms and droughts. Loss of natural ecosystems such as mangroves and forests, rising average annual temperatures, and more intense rainfall are all factors which could increase the impact of natural disasters on large numbers of Myanmar’s population.

Extreme weather events do not become disasters on their own - the level of impact is influenced by the vulnerability of the affected community. Densely populated districts with less infrastructure investment were found to be key vulnerability hotspots. Populous coastal areas in Rakhine State and Ayeyarwady and Yangon Regions were found to be at risk of a wider variety of destructive events than other areas.

Activities aimed at disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness and response in Myanmar should carefully consider current as well as projected disaster risks. Further research and data collection are needed to develop effective approaches that can reduce the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on disaster risk for communities. More can also be done to create a shared understanding of vulnerability and how best it can be measured given limitations in available data.

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Myanmar Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023 (January 2023)

Mimu 5w/overview of southeastern myanmar as of 25th march 2022 - bago (east), kayah, kayin, mon, shan (east), shan (south) and tanintharyi - may 2022, mimu 5w/ overview of rakhine state as of 25th march, 2022 (may 2022).

Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Myanmar.

• Climate Change Overview
• Country Summary
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Historical Hazards

Myanmar is at risk to several natural hazards, including extreme temperatures, drought, cyclones, flooding and storm surge, and heavy rainfall events. Drought is considered the most severe natural hazard in the country based on the impacts that it has on health, property, assets, and livelihoods.

This section provides a summary of key natural hazards and their associated socioeconomic impacts in a given country. It allows for a quick evaluation of most vulnerable areas through the spatial comparison of natural hazard data with development data, thereby identifying exposed livelihoods and natural systems.

The charts provide overview of the most frequent natural disaster in a given country and understand the impacts of those disasters on human populations.

Climate change is now recognized to have a significant impact on disaster management efforts and pose a significant threat to the efforts to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable populations. The demands of disaster risk management are such that concise, clear, and reliable information is crucial. The information presented here offers insight into the frequency, impact and occurrence of natural hazards. Source (PDF)

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Myanmar: a country prone to a range of natural disasters (june 2013), attachments.

Myanmar ranks first in the ‘most at risk’ countries in Asia-Pacific in 2011. The country is vulnerable to a wide range of hazards, including floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis. The likelihood for medium to large-scale natural disasters to occur every couple of years is high, according to historical data.

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Myanmar Country Environmental Analysis

Despite their critical role to the country’s development and economic transformation, Myanmar’s forestry, fisheries and the ecosystem they provide are under tremendous pressure. The Myanmar Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) draws on a comprehensive analysis on the country’s environment and natural resources challenges and identifies strategic recommendations to address the causes behind the degradation as well as to promote improved environmental management, investment and expenditure practices.

The situation 

Between 1990 and 2015, the forest cover has been declining at an average rate of 1.2 percent a year, totaling around 10 million hectares. The overexploitation of fish stocks has contributed to a severe decline in Myanmar’s marine fish resources, reportedly by as much as 90 percent since 1979/80. The Myanmar Country Environmental Analysis sets out clear recommendations and actions for sustainable and inclusive development of the forestry and fisheries sectors, and the need for enhancing Environmental Impact Analysis systems, solid waste management and air pollution. 

Myanmar has relied heavily on natural resource exploitation to sustain economic growth, and serious environmental issues are emerging, underlying the importance of transparent and robust Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system. Air quality is also increasingly compromised, as industrial and mining discharge, and urban waste bring new and increasing environmental health issues. Rapid urban growth in Myanmar generates additional pressures linked to solid waste generation. 

The facts 

On forestry:

The primary drivers of deforestation in Myanmar are land conversion (primarily for agriculture and mining), development of roads and other infrastructure, excessive and poor governance of the mining sector, increase in dams and reservoirs. 

Some reports put wood fuel extraction as the biggest single demand on forest biomass, significantly greater than timber. Fuelwood is the primary fuel for as much as 95 percent of rural domestic energy needs, and estimations range between 60 to 80 percent of total energy consumption.

• Community Forestry has been hampered by limited capacity and financial resources of local Forest Department as well as local civil society staff related to awareness on CF rights and regulations. 

On fisheries:

• Open-access and the ‘race to fish’ is the primary driver of depletion and overfishing in Myanmar.
• Large declines in numerous species of freshwater fish are reported throughout the Ayeyarwady River Basin, which covers around 60 percent of Myanmar’s land area.
• Illegal fishing in the inshore and offshore segments of Myanmar’s marine fisheries is commonplace and enforcement in many marine fisheries remain limited.
• The area of mangroves in Myanmar is the second largest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia, totaling around 500,000 hectares, but the rates of mangrove loss in this country are the highest in the region, with 2.2 percent annual over the period 2000-2012 or net loss of 191,120 hectares.

On the Environmental Impact Assessment system:

• The number of Environmental Impact Assessment/Initial Environment Examinations/Environmental Management Plans submitted is increasing every year. A high proportion of these reports is for the mining sector, which can be largely explained by the new licensing requirements for mining operations. while nearly all reports (89.6 percent) have been replied to, only a small fraction (6.9 percent) has been approved.
• Under the current system, it will not be possible to approve all of the outstanding EIAs. There is an urgent need to reform the EIA review process using a risk-based screening system for incoming reports.
• The Environmental Conservation Department currently does not have an effective and transparent mechanism for tracking the submission of EIA/IEE/EMP.

On solid waste management and pollution:

• Due to the current practice of open dumping of waste and the insufficient collection coverage and cleanliness, there are key environmental and operational issues as follows: landfills that are almost at their full capacity, waste dumping without any compaction, surface and groundwater contamination, methane production, release of greenhouse gas and potential landfill fires.
• In 2017, air pollution is estimated to have attributed to more than 45,000 deaths in Myanmar. As a risk factor for death, air pollution is higher in Myanmar than in other countries in the region and is almost twice the average for Southeast Asia. For Myanmar youth aged 5 to 14 years, particulate matter pollution is the leading risk factor of death among all risk factors, including malnutrition and other behavioral risks.

The recommendations

• Increased transparency, dialogue and social inclusion are some of the key elements of Myanmar’s forest reform process.
• Global experience shows that community forestry and smallholder plantations are financially and socially viable and can meaningfully contribute to rural income generation if the right incentives are in place.
• Wood processing can enhance exports and rural jobs creation.
• Community-based fisheries management provides opportunities to promote more equitable distribution of benefits from inland and inshore fisheries, and for balancing competing demands between improving fisheries governance and safeguarding the livelihoods of the poor.
• International models for how certification, credit access and devolution of management powers can be used as tools to enhance the incentives for sustainable community-based fisheries.
• Improved fisheries governance and management offers significant opportunities to reduce local conflicts in coastal and floodplain areas.

On the Environmental Impact Assessment:

• The recommendations for improving the EIA system aims at ensuring that the government has a modernized information system for managing the EIA process, and that the Environmental Conservation Department is equipped with the appropriate technical capacity, tools, budget and resources to become a more effective environmental regulator.
• The roadmap for a plastic action plan is needed to analyze the negative economic impacts of plastic mismanagement.
• Establishing an ambient air quality monitoring network is needed to improve pollution control and management.
• Synthesis Report (English)
• Synthesis Report (Myanmar)
• Executive Summary (English)
• Executive Summary (Myanmar)
• Forestry Sector Forestry Report (Myanmar) | Forestry Brief (English) | Forestry Brief (Myanmar) | Forest Resources Sector | Community Forest Assessment | Forestry Infographic | Forestry Video
• Environmental Impact Assessment Environmental Impact Assessment Brief (English) | Environmental Impact Assessment Brief (Myanmar) | Environmental Impact Assessment Infographic | Environmental Impact Assessment Diagnosis Report (Myanmar)
• Fisheries Sector Fisheries Brief (English) | Fisheries Brief (Myanmar) | Fisheries Infographic | Fisheries Video | Fisheries Report (English) | Fisheries Report (Myanmar)
• Waste Management Waste Management Infographic | Waste Management Video
• Air Pollution Air Pollution Infographic | Air Pollution Video

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Disaster Risk Reduction in Myanmar: Status report 2020

The disaster risk reduction (DRR) status report provides a snapshot of the state of DRR in Myanmar under the four priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. It also highlights progress and challenges associated with ensuring coherence among the key global frameworks at the national level; and makes recommendations for strengthening overall disaster risk management (DRM) governance by government institutions and stakeholders at national and local levels.

As this report is based on information available as of the end of the year 2019, an update on the COVID-19 impact, response and recovery using a risk-informed approach by countries is provided at the beginning of this report. This report has been prepared by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) on behalf of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) through country consultations and a desk review of key documents, including legal instruments and DRR policies, plans, strategies and frameworks, etc.

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Helping Communities to Save Lives and Reduce the Impact from Natural Disasters

October 15, 2020.

Photo: UNDP

Mon State in the south east of Myanmar lies sandwiched between the Andaman Sea to the west and the Dawna Mountain range to the east. On sunny days it presents stunning vistas, but during the rainy season it is often beset by devastating weather. The narrow coastal land on which it is situated has always been hammered by heavy storms during the monsoon season, often causing massive flooding that damages homes, infrastructure, farms, and plantations.

“Monsoon is the time we are anxious about; it brings rains to our cultivations but too much of it often brings destruction,” said 26-year-old Ma Nway Nway Thet, a native of Kyaung. Her village, 12 miles east of the town of Ye, is one of the most vulnerable to storms and flooding.

Myanmar is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. It ranks second out of 187 countries in the Global Climate Risk Index of countries affected by extreme weather events, over the past two decades. It is vulnerable to a wide range of hazards, including floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis. Mon State is one of the hardest when natural disasters strike. Over the years, it has been hit by a series of floods but 2018 and 2019 were particularly bad, when the state experienced heavy flooding that destroyed homes and plantations.

Nway Nway Thet remembers well the floods of 2019.

“One day in August, the government announced there would be unusually heavy rains, and we were duly  alerted. It rained on and off for a week, and then the floods came,” said Nway Nway Thet. When the streams overflowed, the whole village fled to the monastery compound on high grounds. A number of houses were washed away. In addition, paddy fields and rubber plantations, the mainstay crops of the region, were all destroyed. “It was the worst flood so far,” she added.  

After that flood, people from her village decided that they would no longer be passive in the face of disasters. So, Nway Nway Thet said they formed a committee that would help with response and recovery efforts, following natural disasters. Getting organized was relatively easy. But, the committee, which includes Red Cross volunteers lacked expertise and knowledge about operating procedures, said Nway Nway Thet.

In August this year, her committee and other disaster risk reduction committees from neighboring communities, in Ye Township, were invited to attend disaster risk management training, that was supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), with funding from the Government of Luxembourg.

Mon State’s Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRRWG) working with UNDP developed the three-day training programme that included response and recovery procedures. The training sessions were held in four of the most flood prone townships: Bilin, Paung, Kyaikmaraw and Ye – that include 122 villages and 39 wards.

“We learned all things necessary to implement before, during, and after a disaster. We learned how to select a camp site, to prepare it according to health requirements, and to effectively and safely manage the camp,” said Nway Nway Thet. “We have been doing these things for years on our own, but only now we have learned the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all these issues. SOPs will save us a lot of troubles in future.”

The DRRWG sessions included search and rescue training, the use of global positioning systems (GPS), relief and rehabilitation, emergency communication and coordination, first aid, and recovery assessment and planning. Emergency response kits were also provided to the trainees.

Gender awareness was an integral part of the training, said Ni Ni Lwin, head of UNDP’s Mawlamyine office.  “We worked with our colleagues from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to share knowledge on gender equality and other related issues. Our goal during the training sessions was to raise gender awareness among rural communities.”

It has for Nway Nway Thet and her team. She said previous campsite shelters did not consider gender issues such as bathing space and toilets. Now her team incorporates these concerns into plans, and she believes such measures will help prevent gender-based violence.

“Before we always felt anxious when we heard news about adverse weather, but less so now,” said Nway Nway Thet. “We have learned much more and are now better prepared to reduce the impacts of flooding,” she added.

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'Catastrophic' floods in Myanmar hit most vulnerable, including children – UN agencies

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“The floods are hitting children and families who are already very vulnerable, including those living in camps in Rakhine state,” said Shalini Bahuguna, from the UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF ). There are 140,000 displaced children and families in Rakhine alone.

“Beyond the immediate impact, the floods will have a longer term impact on the livelihoods of these families,” she warned.

According to the Myanmar Government, 39 people have died and over 200,000 people across the country are in need of lifesaving assistance. Twelve out of Myanmar's 14 states and regions have been affected by the rains. On 31 July, President U Thein Sein issued a statement declaring natural disaster zones in four regions, including Rakhine, where access is limited due to flooding, road blockages and landslides.

“Initial reports indicate that there is extensive damage to shelters and other infrastructure in camps around Sittwe [Rakhine's capital], where some 100,000 displaced people are staying,” stressed the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA ) in an update from 30 July.

Limited information is availablethis this stage on the situation in Magway region and Chin state. In one township alone in Magway, around 70 villages are reported to be affected by floods and people in the area being relocated to schools, monasteries and other safe locations. In Chin state, at least 100 houses reported have been destroyed by landslides, pointed out OCHA.

Local authorities, the Government, the military, as well as the Myanmar Red Cross Society and local civil society organizations, with support from the UN and international organizations, are responding to the floods in different parts of the country, carrying out rescue operations and providing food, water, blankets, medical and other basic necessities to those affected.

Against that background, vulnerable children in Myanmar, UNICEF says, face a “double catastrophe” as floods add to the hardships of poverty, violence and conflict.

UNICEF is working closely with other UN agencies is working closely with the Myanmar authorities, dispatching assessment teams to affected areas to identify the priority needs of children and families in terms of water and sanitation, health care, and nutrition.

“UNICEF has already supported the distribution of water purification tablets and hygiene kits to the affected areas,” Ms. Bahuguna said. “We are working…to get emergency messages out to local communities through radio, to tell people how to prevent water borne diseases.”

Myanmar is prone to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones and earthquakes. There is a need for more resources to scale up disaster preparedness, and to improve community resilience. The heaviest affected areas are among the poorest states in Myanmar, a country where nearly 70 percent of people live close to the $2-per-day poverty threshold, and children make up 34 per cent of the population.

Earlier this year, UNICEF appealed for $24.9 million to help children affected by violence and conflict in Rakhine state. The agency has received $5.6 million so far, leaving a $19.3 million shortfall, even before the needs of flood-affected families are taken into account.

“The impact of these floods makes the need for funding, particularly for displaced and vulnerable families, even more urgent,” Ms. Bahuguna said. “The poorest children and families are going to be the hardest hit, and we need to build their resilience so they can cope with these kinds of crises.”

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Cyclone mocha: latest example of dire climate threat facing myanmar’s children, 3.4 million people live in the areas highly impacted by the cyclone.

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More than 90 per cent of children in Myanmar face three or more overlapping climate and environment shocks, hazards or stresses, according to a new UNICEF regional report , ‘Over the Tipping Point’.

The report reveals that children in the East Asia and Pacific region face a greater exposure to multiple climate disasters than in any other region of the world. It calls for urgent investment in climate-smart social services and policies to protect children.

Ten days after Cyclone Mocha battered areas in Myanmar already hard-hit by years of conflict and deprivation, the impact of climate change on children and families is clear for all to see, UNICEF said. It is estimated that 3.4 million people live in the areas highly impacted by Cyclone Mocha.

With temperatures and sea levels rising and extreme weather such as typhoons, severe floods, landslides and droughts increasing globally, millions of children are at risk. Many children and their families face displacement and struggle to survive, with limited or no access to healthcare, education, and water and sanitation services.

In Myanmar, in addition to the impact of COVID-19 and conflict, many families have been forced to pull their children out of school to help with agricultural work, or because they cannot afford the cost of education due to the economic impact of climate change on their livelihoods.

According to the latest analysis, which is based on the Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), in the East Asia and Pacific region over 210 million children are highly exposed to cyclones; 140 million children are highly exposed to water scarcity; 120 million children are highly exposed to coastal flooding; and 460 million children to air pollution. Ultimately, these effects exacerbate inequalities that children already face, pushing the poorest further into poverty. 

As families grapple with the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha - amid an ongoing conflict - it is important to remember girls are more likely to be affected by disasters than boys or men, UNICEF said. Also, children with disabilities are at greater risk of adverse outcomes following a natural disaster.

In addition to its ongoing humanitarian support to children affected by the ongoing conflict across Myanmar, UNICEF is working to provide lifesaving assistance to children and families affected by Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine, Chin and Kachin States and Sagaing and Magway Regions.

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Natural Disaster Essay: How to Write, Topics, & Examples

What would you do if someone told you that a tsunami would wipe out your house tomorrow afternoon? You won’t believe them. It always seems that natural disasters happen in someone else’s life. But every year, millions of people worldwide suffer from various natural calamities. This article attempts to systemize the chaos of nature for you to write an impressive natural disasters essay. You will get acquainted with the seven types of disasters, get a long list of topics and examples of natural disaster essay in 200 words and 300 words.

• 🌪️ Natural Disaster: The Basics
• 💡 114 Essay Topics
• 📑 Outlining Your Essay
• 🌊 Essay Sample (200 Words)
• 🏜️ Essay Sample (300 Words)

🌪️ Natural Disaster Essay: What Is It About?

A natural disaster is a large-scale meteorological or geological event that can to cause loss of life or massive damage to people’s property. Floods and severe storms are the most reported acts of nature in the US, but other incidents also happen from time to time. That is why you can dedicate your essay on natural disasters to earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, or tornadoes.

💡 114 Natural Disasters Essay Topics

What could you write in a natural disaster essay? You can invent your own topic about various types of natural disasters, their causes, and aftermath, or their impact on human life and the economy. Depending on the discipline, you can also describe historic calamities that changed the direction of human civilization. Alternatively, choose one from our comprehensive list below.

• Why are the Great Plains of the central US ideal for tornado formation?
• Global Warming and Climate Change Legislation .
• Research the atmospheric parameters inside a tornado.
• Energy, Technology and Climate Change .
• Why are the boundaries of Tornado Alley in the US so debatable?
• The global climate change as a manmade disaster.
• Which actions should you never do when a tornado is nearby?
• Volunteers’ Role During Disasters .
• Suggest your opinion on the best action strategy in a hurricane.
• The Columbia Disaster and safety violations.
• What were the causes and effects of a flood?
• Analysis on Climate Change and Global Impact .
• Describe the most devastating wildfires in the US and find their common features.
• Earthquake Engineering Considerations and Methods .
• Brainstorm ideas to prevent wildfires.
• Global warming and the greenhouse effect.
• How can building dams cause earthquakes?
• Climate Change and Its Impact on Freshwater .
• Analyze the impact of droughts on tourism .
• Climate Change Effect on Coral Reef Communities .
• Describe the most extended droughts in human history.
• Marine and Coastal Climate Change in Australia .
• Write an essay on natural disasters and earthquakes in particular.
• Air pollution and mortality rates
• What are the distinctive features of droughts in third-world countries ?
• Global Warming, Climate Change, and Society’s Impact on the Environment .
• Study the relationship between global warming and droughts.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Hurricane .
• Evaluate the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
• Social Media’s Role in Disaster Response .
• Classify the effects of natural disasters in an essay.
• Sustainability and Climate Change .
• Describe the 1815 volcanic eruption of Mt. Tambora, Indonesia.
• Hurricane Katrina: Overview, Impact, Response .
• Each new leap of civilization causes new responses of nature.
• Animal Exploitation. Animal Agriculture and Climate Change .
• Think of any positive effects a volcanic eruption may have.
• In Arizona, Collaboration Averts Water Disaster .
• Children are the poorest victims of any disaster.
• A Solution to Remedy Climate Change .
• Which ways of disaster risk reduction do you know?
• An Emergency Operations Center During Hurricane Harvey .
• Research the current problems in disaster management.
• Disaster Recovery Plan for Information Technology Organizations .
• Analyze ineffective disaster management in an essay about hurricane Katrina.
• Nurse Competencies and Scope of Practice in Disaster .
• What should a household have at home in the case of a disaster?
• Hurricane Katrina: The Powerful Natural Disaster .
• Describe the humanitarian disaster during the drought in Somalia.
• Technology in Disaster Preparedness .
• Can man-made disasters entail natural calamities?
• Disaster Management in Philadelphia .
• Review the criteria for disaster classification.
• Jeddah Floods and Adaptation Strategies in the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia .
• Search for real examples of hybrid disasters.
• Natural Disasters Prevention: A Tabletop Exercise .
• Who is responsible for casualties after a natural disaster?
• The Sand Storms: Remote Sensing and Meteorological Variables .
• List the lessons we could learn from our past disaster experience.
• Fire Development, Growth, and Spreads .
• The ice storm and silver thaw: A gentle disaster.
• Fire Crisis Management in the UAE .
• Rockslides: A pressing issue for rural areas.
• 1d – 2d Flood Modeling Using PCSWMM .
• What are the psychological benefits of disaster preparedness?
• Structural Control and Origin of Volcanism in the Taupo Volcanic Zone .
• When does a blizzard become a disaster?
• Extreme Weather Events + Geographies of Globalization .
• Research the causes of dust storms and name the affected areas.
• Strategies for Sustainable Integrated Oil Disaster Management in West Africa .
• Why did the San Francisco earthquake (1906) cause devastating fires?
• Causes of Climate Change .
• What could be done to help people who lost their homes in an earthquake?
• Book Review: Energy and Global Climate Change .
• Analyze the role of World Vision in humanitarian aid after disasters.
• Tangshan earthquake of 1976 showed that high population density is disastrous.
• The Role of Carbon Dioxide in Climate Change .
• Rock avalanche: Why water is the most powerful geological agent.
• Aspects of Climate Change .
• When do extreme weather conditions turn into a disaster?
• Climate Change: Reasons, Kyoto Protocol .
• Write an article on shelter-providing organizations for disaster victims.
• Establishing an IT Disaster Recovery Plan .
• Describe earthquake cycles in Haiti.
• Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food .
• How can nature damage ecology in natural disasters?
• Climate Change. Problems. Effects .
• Disaster management should include psychological help to the survivors.
• Climate Change Causes: Position and Strategies .
• Suggest ways to prevent damage caused by debris flow.
• HAT 4: Disaster in Franklin Country .
• How did the lack of evacuation after the Bhola cyclone (1970) result in the massive death toll?
• The Effects of Climate Change .
• The most significant Yellow River flood: 2 million deaths in 1887.
• Resilience Building Against Natural Disasters in the Caribbean Islands .
• Sinkholes: A natural disaster or attraction for cavers and water-divers?
• Global Climate Change and Health .
• Describe the dynamics of landslides in California .
• Which early-warning systems to detect avalanches do you know?
• Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action .
• Pyroclastic flow: The deadliest volcanic hazard.
• Communication During Disaster Response .
• Describe the volcano eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the Herculaneum and Pompeii.
• Disaster Planning for Families .
• Disaster prevention measures: Investments that save millions of lives.
• Natural Disaster Management and Historical Prospective Study in the UAE .
• Research the PTSD in survivors of natural disasters.
• Are the latest disasters the nature’s fightback to humanity?
• Estimate the human impact on natural disasters.
• List the countries with the largest number of disasters and find their standard features.
• Everyday Communication on Climate Change .
• Insurance coverage against disasters: Our inevitable future.
• Emergency Planning Before and After Hurricane Katrina .
• One natural disaster could bring the world to its end.

Haven’t found a suitable topic in the list above? Use our essay topic generator to get more ideas.

📑 Natural Disaster Essay Outline

Outlines differ, depending on the assigned length and essay type. It is a reference sample. Feel free to modify it, extending some points and narrowing the others. Still, the overall structure should remain the same. We have chosen the “Causes of Earthquakes” essay topic for demonstrative purposes.

• Hook . There are millions of possible ways to start your essay, from a rhetorical question to any imaginable scenario. The point is to grab the reader’s attention, showing them that your writing is unique and creative. For example: We are always concerned with the consequences of a natural disaster. But what brought us into such a calamity in the first place?
• Concepts. Natural disasters can be studied in the framework of various disciplines. But in all cases, they are linked with geology, biology, chemistry, geography, and some other subjects with broad and complicated terminology. Explain the terms that could be elusive for your readers here. For example: For the purposes of this essay, an earthquake is a sudden displacement of the land surface.
• Background. How did you come to think of this problem? Why is it topical? The causes of earthquakes are numerous and often unrelated. To understand them as a system, we need a strict classification.
• Thesis statement . Clearly state the aim of your essay. This essay attempts to group the causes of earthquakes to determine which factors can be tackled by human forces.
• Transition sentence. It comes in the previous sentence (for paragraphs 2 and 3) and ensures smooth reading. E.g.: Tectonic movements are the most powerful causes of earthquakes, and we cannot influence them. But still, there is something we could do.
• Topic sentence . What will you explain in this paragraph? Human interference with nature can also cause earthquakes.
• Evidence. How can you confirm the topic sentence? Heavy clubbing of dam water can disturbance the crustal balance. Nuclear bombing causes shockwaves that penetrate the surface, changing the tectonic plates and their natural alignment. Mining can also cause earthquakes by removing extensive volumes of stone from under the ground.
• Warrant. Why does the reader need this information, and how does it relate to the thesis statement? Knowing these facts can help us change the old-fashioned approaches and lessen the ecological damage to our planet.
• Summary. Collect and summarize all your arguments here. Tectonic movements, volcano eruptions, and geological faults cause a significant part of earthquakes worldwide. But various man-made causes bring us to the same result.
• Rephrased thesis. We cannot stop the tectonic movements or hinder volcanic eruptions, but we can use natural resources with more care.

🌊 Natural Disaster Essay 200 Words

Below you will find a short natural disaster essay for 200 words. It explores the causes and effects of the tsunami in Japan in 2011.

Tsunami in Japan: Causes and Effects The proximity of the deadliest disasters is often unpredictable. As a result, the consequences of a tsunami can exceed any possible expectations. This essay looks for the decisive factors that caused the tsunami in Japan in 2011 and its results for the local population and other countries. The causes were out of human control and could not be predicted. The Pacific plate moved in the horizontal and vertical plane, advancing beneath the Eurasian Plate. It displaced the seawater above and entailed several destructive waves. The disaster had enormous consequences for the Japanese people and their economy. It killed almost 16,000 people, although the country had a sophisticated alarming system. Besides, the earthquake caused fires and explosions at oil factories. The cooling system of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went out of service. Two people were lost, and many were injured. Nissan, like many other large corporations, had to suspend the operation of its four factories. The economic losses due to the catastrophe amounted to 300 billion dollars. But the disaster moved to other places. On 24 March 2011, the earthquake in the east of Myanmar claimed the lives of 60 people and destroyed 300 buildings. As we can see, everything is linked on our planet. Movements of the earth’ crust in any part of the world bring about earthquakes and tsunami in other countries. The series of waves in Japan was caused by the underwater earthquake and had horrible consequences.

🏜️ Natural Disaster Essay 300 Words

If your assignment is longer, you will have to provide your opinion in the essay. Or, you can make your argumentation more detailed. Below you can check our 300-word sample of a disaster essay.

The Economic Effects of the Dust Bowl Drought When someone says “a natural disaster,” we usually imagine an earthquake or a tsunami. Buildings are destroyed, and property is lost. But imagine a scenario of a devastating drought, which happened in the US in the 1930s. Its effect is less visible because it lies in the domain of the national economy. This essay reveals the economic consequences of the Dust Bowl drought. During the third decade of the XX century, strong winds raised choking dust in the southern states, from Texas to Nebraska. People and animals died as the crops failed in the area for several years in a row. The Dust Bowl lasted for almost a decade and was also called “the Dirty Thirties.” This drought intensified the impact of the Great Depression. Local farmers had to migrate to urban areas in search of better conditions and other sources of living. About 2.5 million people moved West from the worst-hit states, namely New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. But they found only discrimination, meager salaries, and inhuman working conditions. Many had to live in tents near irrigation ditches. They were called “Okies,” a disdainful name for migrants of any state. Regular rains returned to the southern states by the end of 1939, closing the drought. However, the economic aftermath persisted. The counties that suffered the most failed to recover the agricultural value of their land till the 1950s. Thus, the local population kept decreasing for twenty years. Although a drought does not ruin property, it can tangibly lower human life levels. The Dust Bowl threw people into a lose-lose situation. Their farms were unfit for gaining any profit, and the new places of living gave them no better opportunities. It took two decades to restore public wellbeing in the Southern States.

Researching the worst acts of nature can teach you to value what you have. We hope that this article has made your creative writing more manageable and pleasurable. You can write an essay of any length by simply following our outline. All you will need to do after that is make a cover page for it.

Please share your natural disaster essay ideas in the comments below.

❓ Natural Disaster Essay FAQ

How to write an essay about natural disaster.

Your approach should depend on the discipline. But in any case, you can discuss the types of disasters, their consequences, characteristics, and preconditions. The excellent idea is to select a past disastrous event and analyze it from the economic, social, or individual point of view.

What Is a Disaster Essay?

A disaster essay explores the stages of a natural or man-made calamity and seeks the possible ways to prevent similar emergencies in the future. An article on disaster management studies the correct and efficient activities to lower the casualties and property loss after a disaster.

What Is Disaster Preparedness Essay?

This type of writing analyzes the level of readiness of a region or municipality to an unexpected natural disaster. You can highlight the vulnerable groups of the population that will suffer the most. Or, you may invent measures that could reduce the disaster response and coping time. Such assignments teach you strategic thinking and a systematic approach to problem-solving.

How to Describe a Natural Disaster for an Essay?

You should specify that the event was unexpected and led to many deaths and property loss. The most critical things include the causes of the disaster, its progress and duration, and the negative consequences for the locals. You can also specify the negative effect on the economy and humanitarian condition of the area.

🔗 References

• Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
• Types of Disasters | SAMHSA
• Natural Disaster – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• Natural Disasters – National Geographic
• What Is Disaster Management: Prevention and Mitigation

• Share full article

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The Morning

An overlooked war.

In Myanmar, poets, doctors and lawyers have traded life in the cities for jungle warfare.

By Hannah Beech

I’m a roving Asia correspondent based in Bangkok.

A people take to arms and fight for democracy. A military terrorizes civilians with airstrikes and land mines. Tens of thousands are killed. Millions are displaced.

Yet it is all happening almost completely out of view.

Recently, I spent a week on the front lines of a forgotten war in the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar. Since a military junta overthrew a civilian administration there three years ago, a head-spinning array of pro-democracy forces and ethnic militias have united to fight the generals. The resistance includes poets, doctors and lawyers who traded life in the cities for jungle warfare. It also includes veteran combatants who have known no occupation but soldier.

Now, for the first time, the rebels claim control of more than half of Myanmar’s territory. In recent weeks they have overrun dozens of towns and Myanmar military bases.

Today’s newsletter will explain how civil war has engulfed Myanmar — and why the world has ignored a country that less than a decade ago was lauded as a democratic success story.

A coup defied

In February 2021, a military junta, led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, arrested the nation’s civilian leaders and returned the country to full dictatorship. If the generals expected the populace to cower in response to their coup, they were wrong. With military snipers shooting unarmed protesters and bystanders, including dozens of children, an armed resistance coalesced. Tens of thousands of professionals and members of Gen Z decamped to the jungle . Rappers, Buddhist monks and politicians, among others, learned how to shoot guns and arm drones. Their hands grew callused.

This unlikely resistance has repelled the junta’s forces from wide swaths of the country, including most of Myanmar’s borderlands. (Here are several useful charts that explain how the civil war is unfolding.)

Areas of control in Myanmar

Largely military junta control

Largely resistance control

Bay of Bengal

A lady tarnished

If there is one name from Myanmar that people in the West might recognize it’s that of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the long-imprisoned democracy advocate who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent resistance. (Her name is pronounced Daw Ong Sahn Soo Chee.)

In 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party routed the military’s candidates in nationwide elections. With her civilian government sharing power with the army, Myanmar seemed like a rare counterpoint to the Arab Spring and other foiled democracy movements. President Obama visited twice.

Yet within a year, the military, which still controlled the most important levers of power, had intensified its persecution of Rohingya Muslims, culminating in 2017 with the expulsion of three-quarters of a million people within a few weeks. The United States designated the campaign a genocide. Rather than condemn the violence, however, Aung San Suu Kyi went to The Hague and defended the military in an international court. Her refusal to stand up for a persecuted minority knocked off her halo. The United States and other Western governments distanced themselves from her.

The tarnishing of this simple morality tale — the lady versus the generals, democracy versus dictatorship — helps answer a question I was asked dozens of times during my week of reporting in Myanmar: Why doesn’t the world care about us? Allies in the West feel betrayed by a politician who, it turned out, would not meet her own high moral standard. (Aung San Suu Kyi is again imprisoned by the military.)

A fractured reality

Even without foreign intervention, or much Western aid at all, the Myanmar resistance has pushed back the junta. Rebels are now within 150 miles of the capital, Naypyidaw.

But that may have been the easy part. The resistance is — perhaps hopelessly — splintered. More than a dozen major armed ethnic groups are vying for control over land and valuable natural resources.

Ethnic groups in Myanmar

Ta’ang

Bamar (majority)

For now, they’re fighting a common enemy. But some of these militias are just as likely to battle each other. Last month, the rebels captured a key border town, only to relinquish it after one armed group withdrew its full support.

Already, much of Myanmar is fractured between different groups, all heavily armed. In other parts of the country, no one is fully in charge. Crime is flourishing. The country is now the world’s biggest producer of opium. Jungle factories churn out meth and other synthetic drugs that have found their way to Australia. Cybercriminals have proliferated, targeting Americans, Asians and Europeans with scams.

Myanmar’s civil war may be overshadowed by other global conflicts. But to the Burmese who live with uncertainty and chaos, the war has never been more urgent or real.

THE LATEST NEWS

Israel-hamas negotiations.

Delegations from Israel and Hamas arrived in Cairo to resume talks about a possible cease-fire. Read about the gaps between them in the negotiations.

A Hamas representative said the group’s red lines included a “withdrawal from all areas of Gaza and the unconditional return of the displaced.”

Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Hamas’s latest proposal as a move to stop Israeli troops from entering Rafah, a city that Israel has called the last bastion of Hamas control and where more than a million Gazans have taken refuge.

Rafah Incursion

A doctor at a Rafah medical center said 27 bodies had been brought there since the start of Israel’s incursion in the city. The Israeli military said it had killed about 20 Hamas fighters in Rafah.

Satellite photos showed fewer aid trucks on both sides of Gaza’s border with Egypt on Monday than on Sunday, after Israel ordered an evacuation of areas near the Rafah crossing.

Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, a critical entry point for aid that it had closed after a Hamas rocket attack on Sunday.

The Israelis told the U.S. that the operation in Rafah was limited and “designed to cut off Hamas’s ability to smuggle weapons into Gaza.”

President Biden paused an arms shipment to Israel last week to prevent U.S. weapons being used in a major assault on Rafah.

Netanyahu is trying to reassure his domestic and diplomatic critics. Steven Erlanger explores the Israeli prime minister’s competing pressures .

Campus Protests

University of Chicago police officers removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment before dawn on Tuesday.

Biden decried rising antisemitism in the U.S. and said that too many people had forgotten “that Hamas unleashed this terror” by attacking Israel.

The White House press secretary criticized white counterprotesters at the University of Mississippi who taunted a Black pro-Palestinian protester .

A consulting firm will investigate why the police allowed an attack on pro-Palestinian demonstrators at U.C.L.A. to continue for hours.

More International News

Emmanuel Macron took Xi Jinping to his childhood haunts in the Pyrenees . Officials said the French and Chinese leaders have forged a close relationship over the years.

Canada re-criminalized public drug use in British Columbia after a backlash.

Ukraine said that it had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky and other leaders.

Trump on Trial

Stormy Daniels testified at Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial, describing a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump and the hush-money payment she received during the 2016 election.

Daniels spoke quickly, saying the encounter traumatized her, and derisively recalled conversations with Trump. Trump, who has long denied her account, shook his head and mouthed an expletive.

Trump’s lawyers repeatedly objected and moved for a mistrial , accusing prosecutors of trying to embarrass him. The judge declined but scolded Daniels, calling some of her testimony “better left unsaid.”

Trump’s lawyer questioned Daniels’s credibility and motives. Daniels denied trying to extort Trump but said yes when asked if she hated him.

Trump posted, then deleted, an angry message about Daniels’s testimony that could have violated his gag order.

The late night hosts joked about Daniels’s testimony .

More on Politics

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has faced previously undisclosed health issues including hepatitis C, mercury poisoning and a dead worm in his brain.

The judge in Trump’s classified documents case postponed the trial indefinitely . She cited the large number of unresolved legal issues, which she has allowed to pile up.

A pro-Trump nonprofit has paid more than $3 million to corporations linked to its leaders or their relatives, raising concerns about self-dealing .

House Republicans will hold a hearing today on antisemitism in K-12 schools .

TikTok sued the U.S. over a law that would ban the app unless it is sold to another company. TikTok says the law violates users’ First Amendment rights.

Panera Bread will stop selling its highly caffeinated lemonades , which were the subject of two wrongful-death lawsuits.

Customers of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX are poised to recover all of the money they lost when the firm collapsed in 2022, plus interest.

Other Big Stories

A Missouri man killed his wife because he could not pay her medical bills, he told the police.

The Boy Scouts of America will change its name to Scouting America . The group let girls join several years ago.

After Manuel Bayo Gisbert survived an armed kidnapping in Mexico, he set out to learn the stories of abductees who never returned .

Here are columns by Bret Stephens on anti-Zionist protesters and Ross Douthat on change in the Catholic Church .

MORNING READS

Spectaculars: They put a 65-foot hot dog in Times Square . Then the wrestling started.

Real estate: Houseboats used to be an affordable way to live in London. Not anymore .

Mocktails: Fancy nonalcoholic beverages have attracted a new kind of customer: the (way) under-21 set .

Lives Lived: The psychologist Lesley Hazleton was a secular Jew, but her curiosity about faith and religion led her to write biographies of Muhammad, Mary and Jezebel. Hazleton died at 78 .

N.B.A.: The Oklahoma City Thunder remained undefeated in the playoffs, taking a 1-0 series advantage with a 117-95 rout of the Dallas Mavericks.

Upgrade: W.N.B.A. teams, after years of mostly flying commercial, will travel on charter planes this season.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Over the next six weeks, trillions of cicadas will emerge in the Midwest and the Southeast. Joseph Yoon, a chef and edible bug enthusiast, plans to make the most of it. “The romance! The kismet! The synchronicity that this is all occurring in my lifetime!” Yoon told the Times food critic Tejal Rao .

Yoon puts the insects in kimchi, fries them to make tempura and folds them into Spanish tortillas alongside potato and onion. “I like to think of cicadas as just another ingredient,” he said. “Like lobster or shrimp.”

More on culture

After the Met Gala, Usher, Jeff Bezos and others kept the celebrations going. See images from the after-parties .

A security guard was shot outside Drake’s Toronto home . The shooting followed a weekend of personal diss tracks between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Make hearty, flavorful huevos rancheros .

Upgrade your kitchen .

Take advantage of these Mother’s Day deals .

Here is today’s Spelling Bee . Yesterday’s pangram was floorboard .

And here are today’s Mini Crossword , Wordle , Sudoku , Connections and Strands .

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox . Reach our team at [email protected] .

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this newsletter misstated when rebels captured and relinquished a Myanmar border town. It was last month, not this month.

How we handle corrections

Hannah Beech is a Times reporter based in Bangkok who has been covering Asia for more than 25 years. She focuses on in-depth and investigative stories. More about Hannah Beech

Natural Disasters Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on natural disasters.

A Natural disaster is an unforeseen occurrence of an event that causes harm to society. There are many Natural disasters that damage the environment and the people living in it. Some of them are earthquakes , cyclones, floods, Tsunami , landslides, volcanic eruption, and avalanches. Spatial extent measures the degree or severity of the disaster.

Levels of Disaster

The severity or degree of damage can be further divided into three categories:

Small Scale Disasters: Small scale disasters are those that extend from 50 Kms. to 100 Kms. So this kind of disasters does not cause much damage.

Medium-scale disasters: Medium Scale disasters extend from 100 Kms to 500 Kms. These cause more damage than a small scale disaster. Moreover, they can cause greater damage if they occur in colonial states.

Large Scale Disasters: These disasters cover an area of more than 1000 Kms. These cause the most severe damage to the environment. Furthermore, these disasters can even take over a country if the degree is high. For instance, the wiping out of the dinosaurs was because of a large scale natural disaster.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Types of Disasters

Causes: These can cause of releasing of the energy. This release is from the core of the earth. Furthermore, the release of energy causes seismic waves. Rupturing of geological faults causes earthquakes. But other events like volcanic eruptions, landslides mine blasts can also cause it.

Landslides: Landslides is the moving of big boulders of rocks or debris down a slope. As a result, landslides occur on mountains and hilly areas. Moreover, landslides can cause destruction to man-made things in many ways.

Causes: Gravitational pull, volcanic eruptions , earthquakes can cause landslides. Moreover, soil erosion due to deforestation is also a cause of landslides.

Avalanches: Avalanches are like landslides. But instead of rocks thousand tons of snow falls down the slope. Moreover, this causes extreme damage to anything that comes in its way. People who live in snowy mountains always have fear of it.

Causes: Avalanches takes places when there is a large accumulation of snow on the mountains. Moreover, they can also occur from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, the chances of surviving an avalanche are very less. This is because people die of hypothermia in it.

Tsunami: Tsunami is the production of very high waves in oceans and seas. Moreover, the displacement of the ground causes these high waves. A tsunami can cause floods if it occurs near shores. A Tsunami can consist of multiple waves. Moreover, these waves have a high current. Therefore it can reach coastlines within minutes. The main threat of a tsunami is if a person sees a Tsunami he cannot outrun it.

Causes: Tsunami is unlike normal eaves that occur due to the wind. But Tsunami is waves that occur by ground displacement. Thus earthquakes are the main causes of Tsunamis.

FAQs on Essay on natural disaster

Q1.What are natural disasters?

A1. Natural Disasters are unforeseen events that cause damage to the environment and the people.

Q2.Name some Natural disasters.

A2. Some Natural Disasters are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, Landslides, floods, Tsunami, avalanches. Natural disasters can cause great damage to human society. But preventive measures can be taken to reduce the damage from these disasters.

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