BIGGEST NATURAL DISASTERS
Eight times that nature caused widespread chaos and destruction
WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD
Over the last decade, global natural disasters have accounted for 0.1 per cent of total deaths. Around 60,000 people die each year as a result of disasters such as drought, floods and earthquakes, and a further 150 million people are impacted by them.
A ‘natural disaster’ is characterised as a sudden event in nature, usually resulting in serious damage and loss of life. These events include geophysical hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic activity, climatological events such as wildfires and droughts and weatherrelated incidents such as storms and cyclones. Here are eight of the biggest natural disasters in history and the widespread chaos and devastation they caused.
An aerial view of raging bushfires
2020 AUSTRALIAN WILDFIRES
Between 2019 and 2020, Australia experienced some of the deadliest wildfires in recent history. The official death toll for the wildfires themselves is 33, though a further 445 deaths were related to smoke inhalation and 4,000 people were admitted to hospital. Between September 2019 and March 2020, 46 million acres of South-Eastern Australian forests were burnt to the ground. The majority of the wildfires are believed to have been ignited by lightning, but the risk of intense fire weather during the bushfire season has increased by 30 per cent since 1900 as a direct result of climate change.