2020 is the worst year to be alive. Cant this year stop already? The world is suffering from enormous disasters such as forest fires, volcanic eruptions, locust attacks, floods and widespread diseases across the globe causing a huge upset in the world order.
According to the Organization of red cross (an international humanitarian organization bringing relief to victims of war or natural disaster), 2020 is the record year of providing disaster shelters.
So some of the natural disasters and highly contagious diseases that occurred in 2020 will be discussed below:
Taal Volcanic Eruption :
On January 12 there was a phreatic eruption in the Philippine province of Batanga. Blasted steam ashed up to 1 kilometre into the sky causing small rocks to fall in the nearby areas damaging infrastructure and livelihood. The Taal volcano, which was a popular tourist attraction resulted in the evacuation of more than 135000 people from the island.
African Swine Fever:
The outbreak of African swine fever in the country started in September 2019. African swine fever (ASF) had caused the death of thousands of pigs in Don Marcelino town.
There are still some cases of swine fever in June this year Davao Occidental declared a state of calamity killing more than 100000 hogs and eventually the government had to pay P5000 for each hog.
The Australian Bushfire 2019–2020
The Australian bushfire 2019–2020 is colloquially known as black summer. As of 9 March 2020, the fires burnt an estimated 18.6 million hectares (46 million acres).
Floods In Jakarta
Flash floods occur in the early hours of 1st January in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
The floods were caused by heavy overnight rainfall which dumped up to 400millimeters of water causing the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers to overflow. Over 379,000 residents have been evacuated to higher grounds.
The Dreadful Corona Virus
The current coronavirus disease which has taken the lives of more than 1,528,885 people is said to be originated from the Huanan seafood market, in the capital of China’s Hubei province, Wuhan. It is a form of zoonotic Disease-one that can spread from animals and humans.
It is widely clear to the world that how much problems it has caused to each and every individual’s life, thousands of people have lost their jobs Increasing unemployment and destroying the state's economy.
As it continues to grow in to each corner of the world and has affected almost every country, WHO is working in collaboration with scientists, businesses, and global health organizations through the ACT Accelerator to speed up the pandemic response.
There are currently more than 100 COVID-19 vaccine candidates under development, with a number of these in the human trial phase.
Earthquakes in Turkey, Caribbean, China, India
Earthquakes are common in 21st century and have increased in numbers over a decade. While mentioning the national disasters of the current year I thought it is necessary to talk about the devastating Earthquakes that have destroyed hundreds of houses and human infrastructure and taken a lot of lives.
A long way there have been 45 earthquakes characterized over 6 magnitudes. On October 30, when a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck under the Aegean Sea causing the water to rush in the streets of coastal city of Izmir, Turkey taking the life of 14 people and injuring 400.
Jamaica and Russia had been the worst hit with earthquakes over magnitude
Locust Swarms In East Africa & Parts Of India & Asia
On 27th June 2020, millions of locusts swarmed on a massive scale in Gurgaon, Delhi-NCR region, made look like a sand storm in the sky
In may swarms of locusts in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan measuring a kilometre wide appears to be worst locust attack in 27 years.
Locusts have infected 23 countries in 2020 wiping out crops in Pakistan and
2020 Beirut explosion
On 4th August 2020 the world was shocked by the devastating blast that took place in Beirut, The capital Lebanon, due to the explosion of 2750 tons of Ammonium nitrate
The explosion caused at least 204 deaths, 6,500 injuries, and US $ 15 billion in property damage, leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless.
The year of lockdown 2020
Well, Disasters and diseases occur every year but the reason which makes this year worst is the chain of disasters and pandemics which has caused the world under lockdown and an extreme form of social isolation.
The lockdown has caused a lot of unemployment, Cancellation of a large number of events, This will result in a secondary epidemic of burnouts and stress-related absenteeism.
What Is The Least We Could Do?
The Experts see it even worse if the coronavirus vaccine is not developed but we should remain positive and help all those people out suffering from unemployment and homelessness as much as we can so we all can cooperate together and succour each other in the time of hardship and suffering.
