Mitigating risk and coping with uncertainty
- Authors: World Meteorological Organization, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme and United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
- Main Title: The United Nations World Water Development Report 2003 , pp 269-290
- Publication Date: April 2003
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.18356/ad0d74ae-en
- Language: English Spanish
THIS CHAPTER ASSESSES THE NATURE AND COSTS of water-related risks. Such disasters as floods and droughts take an enormous toll on human life, not to mention the social, economic and environmental losses they cause. Risk is growing, with human-induced emergencies now overtaking natural disasters. In 1999 alone, natural disasters accounted for at least 50,000 deaths. The burden of loss, of course, is greatest in poor countries, where thirteen times more people die from such events than in rich ones. Economic losses also tend to be larger as a proportion of the total economy in developing countries, and most are uninsured. Natural disasters may be unavoidable, but with better planning and prevention – risk management – their impact can be reduced.
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