CORDIS Archive

August
2004

Accidents – and disasters – will happen

Natural disasters, such as forest fires, floods and droughts, hit Europe every year. Add to that the havoc caused by ‘man-made’accidents – oil spills, chemical leaks and the like – and the continent can appear to be a turbulent place. A new report looks into the effects after the dust has settled.

The media can always be counted on to offer dramatic reports and pictures of the latest natural disasters and technological accidents. But then the headlines fade, the reporters and cameras move on, and most people are left in the dark about the long-term effects of such incidents.

A new study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) has gone into great depth in assessing the impact of natural disasters and technological accidents across Europe. It focuses on major incidents that occurred over a five-year period (1998-2002), bringing together information on their human, economic and environmental costs.

Mapping the mayhem

Mapping such problems shows just how fragile people’s relationship can be with Mother Nature. The report covers floods, storms, forest fires, droughts, landslides, avalanches and earthquakes, along with oil spills and industrial and mining accidents. The impact on society and the environment can be huge. The authors say that during their period of study, natural disasters and technological accidents directly affected more than 7 million Europeans and caused damage that led to at least €60 billion in insured losses.

It is not all doom and gloom, however. The report points to a number of recent initiatives to tackle problems at a European level. These include the recent EU water framework directive that strengthens assessment of water resources, taking into account floods and droughts. A directive on industrial accident hazards was extended recently to cover mining activities, and much work is being carried out to harmonise building standards in regions that suffer earthquakes.

The document explains that many disasters and accidents can affect more than one country at a time: for example, storms damaged forests in Germany, France and Switzerland in December 1999.Extreme events are also capable of producing a ‘domino effect’, where secondary problems create environmental difficulties: forest fires can downgrade soil quality; earthquakes can trigger fires and explosions; and droughts can seriously harm water quality.

Natural goodness

But we also have to learn to take the smooth with the rough: extreme natural events can benefit natural ecosystems. Forest fires can create new habitats and revitalise diversity, while flooding is an essential part of the natural cycle of wetlands and riparian forests.

The EEA points out that care must be taken when taking preventive measures. If not, their environmental impact could be greater than the event they seek to mitigate. A poorly managed forest fire prevention programme, for instance, could cause a build-up in biomass that could stoke the size of a future blaze.

Human influence on natural disasters may be peripheral, but, by definition, this is not the case with technological accidents. They do not usually cause as much death and economic damage as natural disasters, but their ‘catastrophic potential’, as the report calls it,can be much greater for the environment. The marine oil spills and mining accidents mentioned in the report are a dark mark on our collective legacy.Harrowing stories of oil slicks damaging coastal regions vie for attention with leaks of hazardous waste that wreck ecosystems. The statistics are appalling: when the oil tanker Erika went down off the Atlantic coast in 1999, it spilled 20,000 tonnes of oil, polluted 400 km of coastline and lead to the deaths of 45,000 sea birds.

It’s a cruel world

The report offers some interesting conclusions for policy-makers looking to improve safety and prevent accidents. Future policies need to look at the big picture and offer an integrated approach. This is particularly true of land-use planning, but also for those sectors that are especially vulnerable to disasters and accidents, such as transport and industry. EU enlargement offers a chance to improve cooperation in response to crises, and to tighten up coordination and preventive measures.