ACCORDING to the World Meteorological Organisation and UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, “climate change and increasingly extreme weather events have caused a surge in natural disasters over the past 50 years and disproportionately impacted poorer countries”.
It added that “from 1970 to 2019, these natural hazards accounted for 50% of all disasters, 45% of all reported deaths and 74% of all reported economic losses”.
It reported that there were more than 11,000 reported disasters attributed to these hazards globally, with just over two million deaths and US$3.64 trillion (RM16.2 trillion) in losses, adding that more than 91% of the deaths occurred in developing countries.
It is a fact that the many weather, climate and water volatilities are increasing and will become more frequent and severe around the globe. Malaysia is no exception.
This calls for installing a comprehensive national emergency warning system that will beam alerts to any mobile phone located in the path of an oncoming natural disaster.
It is hoped that our government could install such a comprehensive emergency warning system that will alert would-be victims of any impending natural disaster where time is of the essence.
Dr A Soorian
Petaling Jaya
