In response to Reuters’ observant  message that we need more preparedness to deal with future hazards, there is another important point to make.  It involves the term “natural disasters”.  The fact of the matter is that the hazards which trigger these humanitarian crises may well come from natural sources, but the disasters themselves are caused by the way human kind deals with the environment....

...the way it structures society and the way it allocates resources.  Yes, Reuters is right but bear in mind that crises themselves are not caused by nature but by the way human kind interacts with nature. 

This message is of course known to those involved in organisations such as the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, but these sorts of initiatives need to be actively expanded, consolidated, promoted and resourced.

Reuters asserts that as disasters are on the rise, fewer people would die if governments and aid agencies did more to prepare for the future. They also say money, as well as lives could be saved – “$1 invested in reducing disasters in developing countries estimated to save $7 in losses”:

http://www.alertnet.org/db/topics/disasterreduction.htm

Also see Q & A with Benoit Collin, head of the Disaster Risk Reduction programme at the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO):

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/echo/128435956810.htm