Aes Engineering Scholarship

What impact will the Natural Disasters of 2010 have on the global economy? How should these events affect future political, business and personal decisions? http://www.aesengineers.com/scholarships.htm

Throughout 2010 natural disasters wreaked havoc on the world making it one of the harshest years in recent history. Every year there are natural disasters all over the world but the sheer number and ferocity of the disasters during 2010 set it apart from any other year. Not only were there earthquakes and tsunamis but also a multitude of volcanoes erupted. Along with the tectonic forces, there where countless floods, droughts, and forest fires, each of which effected the infrastructure of not only the host country but also, the entire world. The Haitian and Chilean earthquakes affected everyone and, the majority of the world still remembers them.

At 4:30 in the afternoon, on January 12, 2010 Haiti was overwhelmed by the biggest earthquake it had ever seen. The Haitian earthquake registered a devastating seven, on the Richter scale and literally shook the Haitian infrastructure to the core. With hospitals, ports, and the majority of the communications network down, Haiti’s economy was at a stand still and, as the world came together to help, its economy was also changed. The United States alone came up with 1.5 Billion in monetary aid thanks to former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Haitian earthquake shows many similarities to the 2010 earthquake in Chile. This earthquake registered an eight point eight on the Richter scale and, was strong enough to create tsunami. Both the Haitian and the Chilean earthquakes were followed by huge prison breaks which added even more destruction to the quakes. In Haiti, the Prison Civile de Port-au-Prince was destroyed allowing 4,000 inmates to escape. Also, prison riots erupted after a failed prison break in the Chilean prison of El Manzano. The prisoners ignited parts of the prison and the riot was only dispersed because of military intervention. Only 36, of the 203 prisoners, were caught and, the remaining prisoners burnt seven houses down and assaulted many residents. These disasters have brought the weaknesses of the world’s prison system to light. In the future I’m sure we will devise ways to keep prisons safe and secure even under the hectic conditions of a natural disaster.

The economic influence of the natural disasters which occurred during 2010 is now becoming more evident. The United States gave Haiti 1.5 billion in aid which added to America’s 14.2 trillion dollar debt. Haiti’s already struggling economy was nearly crushed and the few people who did have formal jobs no longer did. Because of Chile’s more developed state, the effects where not as intense. Although many ports were shut down overall, there wasn’t a large economic effect. The biggest world-wide effect was in terms of copper pricing. Nearly one fifth of the copper production in chili stopped, which drove the price of copper up to a five-week high.

The natural disasters of 2010 will be remembered for many years to come and their economic effects will take time to recover from. From Haitian poverty to Chilean copper, the entire world was affected by these quakes and, they brought many weaknesses in our infrastructure to light. We now know what parts of our communication, transportation and economic systems need improvement. Although fires, drought, and hurricanes plagued the world these earthquakes had a much bigger economic effect.