Over the last 20 years, there has been a 151 percent increase in climate-related disaster costs, killing over 1.3 million people and impacting over 4.4 billion. The United Nations have also reported economic losses from climate-related disasters to total nearly $2.9 trillion over the past 20 years. Global capitalism has negatively affected the climate, and is to blame for the increased intensity of these natural disasters. Global capitalism is something we can control and will lead us to face environmental consequences if we do not address it.
While the rise of global capitalism has brought new technologies and economic benefits, it has also left its mark on the natural environment. Global capitalism has increased the intensity of natural disasters through global warming and vulnerability. Many factors of global capitalism have led to increased levels of global warming, making storms stronger and more dangerous. It has also increased the vulnerability of certain groups to the effects of natural disasters.
Global capitalism has changed the way many things are produced, purchased, and consumed. These changes have contributed largely to the increase in global warming and the strengths of natural disasters today. Global capitalism has lead us to change our farming methods, cut down forests to build factories, and increase our energy usage, all of which contribute to increased greenhouse gas emissions and more favorable atmospheric conditions for more powerful storms. Figure 1below, displays the top twenty things we can do to cool down the planet. Many of these factors are connected to global capitalism. Out of the twenty items in the figure, eight of them have to do with our current food system. These items are high on the list because global capitalism increases the overall production, purchasing, and consumption of food. In turn, this shows how global capitalism has increased greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Looking at recent natural disasters, take Hurricane Michael. It hit Florida in October of 2018, and was one of the strongest hurricanes to hit United States mainland in decades. It caused over $1.3 billion in agricultural damage alone. The increased frequency and intensity of recent natural disasters like Hurricane Michael shows the effects of global warming and global capitalism. Overall, global capitalism has increased global warming and created more favorable conditions for destruction from natural disasters.
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| Figure 1 |
Global capitalism also contributes to the increased level of vulnerability people face in natural disasters. Global capitalism has largely contributed to the increased wealth disparity between populations and has changed the environments people live in. Regarding natural disasters, they are more dangerous to those who are impoverished, powerless, and disadvantaged. Since global capitalism inherently effects this, it has a direct effect on how different populations cope with natural disasters. It is harder to limit danger through planning and harder to cope with the hazards after they strike when you do not have the resources. For those with lower economic status, it is hard to avoid living in areas where natural disasters are more likely to occur or are more dangerous when they hit. They can only afford to purchase certain land and cannot afford buildings that are strong enough to withstand the natural disasters. When it comes to surviving the natural disasters, this is also harder for people with low economic status. Their buildings are more likely to collapse, causing injuries, and they might not have enough money to evacuate safely.It is often not the actual storm that causes casualties and injuries, but the weak infrastructure and lack of help.Overall, global capitalism has increased our vulnerability to natural disasters.
Other people may argue that populations most at risk in natural disasters are simply the people unlucky enough to be in parts of the world where nature’s extremes are most popular. They think that danger comes from the uneven distribution of the natural hazard’s magnitude and frequency across the earth. While the exposure to the natural hazard is important, it is society that really puts people at increased risk. The equation used to analyze natural disaster follows, saying Risk = Exposure x Vulnerability. Natural disasters are always threatening due to exposure, but they become calamities when societies go down paths that increase exposure and vulnerability. Global capitalism increases exposure through the favorable atmospheric conditions global warming creates for natural disasters and increases vulnerability through disparity, both of which increase the overall risk the natural disaster presents.
Global capitalism has had negative external effects on the environment which will only get worse if we continue along this path. The more our capitalist society produces greenhouse gas emissions and global warming rises, the more favorable environments will be for even more destructive natural disasters. The more global capitalism increases disparity within the world, the more vulnerable we will become to natural disasters. If we want to decrease the overall risk of natural disasters, we need to address our current system of global capitalism.
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