Editorial

Citation

Wilson, H.C. (2010), "Editorial", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 19 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2010.07319aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 19, Issue 1

It’s winter in the UK and it is raining!

Not surprising some would say, but it is not the fact that it is raining but the amount and period of rain and the consequences that are surprising. Again this winter we are experiencing floods within our towns and cities but fortunately we have high-class emergency response services that prevent large-scale casualties and the damage is often limited to property, which in itself is bad enough.

What is surprising is that, despite these winter floods and the havoc they leave in their wake, a prosperous and wealthy nation such as the UK can be so unprepared for the winter onslaught. In the UK we place flood prevention systems into areas which have experienced winter floods the previous year, but we do not seem to have the capability, or the will, to put such measures into force prior to the event.

If such measures are not a priority in a developed nation such as this, then what hope can we offer the under-developed and poor nations which experience large-scale flood events, the scale of which makes the UK events seem like a pin-prick.

Whether or not this increasing precipitation each winter is the result of global warming or not is beyond the knowledge of the writer but it does raise some concerns as to why this is occurring.

At present representatives from the major developed nations are dithering as to whether these, apparently increasing, events are due to global warming or not and, if so, then what action to take.

What is of concern is the fact that there is no consensus on what action should be taken and by whom, and this dithering has been going on for decades. Researchers into global warming keep warning us that the situation is getting worse every year, but still the politicians dither, going from international meeting to international meeting, but with no apparent resolve to come to grips with the situation.

The fact that climate change is occurring is blatantly obvious but is this a natural cycle in the life of the planet or is it man-made, or a combination of both? We need to come to a common consensus as to the cause. If it is a natural cycle, then we need research into how long it is going to last and whether the severity is increasing or decreasing; if man-made or enhanced, then we need to find an agreed route to tackle the problem, and quickly.

What we cannot do in either scenario is have the politicians dithering about, while the poorer nations suffer huge losses in their populations and infrastructures. We will not be able to prevent all flooding disasters worldwide despite our best efforts, as the nature of our planet is greater than our ability to combat its vagaries.

What we can do, and should be doing, is putting into place schemes which will ameliorate the worst effects of these flooding events in those countries which are hardest hit by our changing climate. Hence we do the protection of the poor and needy first and then we can sit around blaming one another for causing the problem.

Surely the politicians can see the obvious sense in that.

Lets us agree to do the prevention work first and sort out the blame and management later.

H.C. Wilson