UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DE MOÇAMBIQUE

INSTITUTO DE EDUCAÇÃO À DISTÂNCIA

Tema do Trabalho:
ESSAY ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS

Docente: Nome e Código do Estudante:

Lawrence Nhemachena Flávia Bertil João Agostinho
708212079

Curso: Licenciatura em Ensino de Geografia

Disciplina: Inglês
Ano de Frequência: 1º Ano

MILANGE, MAIO DE 2022

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Índice

1. Introdução ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.1. Objectives .................................................................................................................... 2

1.1.1. General ................................................................................................................. 2

1.1.2. Specifics ............................................................................................................... 2

1.2. Methodology ................................................................................................................ 2

2. Natural Disasters ................................................................................................................. 3

2.1. concept ......................................................................................................................... 3

2.2. Causes and Consequences of Natural Disasters........................................................... 4

2.3. Cause and Consequences of Natural Disasters in Mozambique .................................. 5

3. Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 6

4. Reference’s Bibliographical ................................................................................................ 7

1. Introdução
Mozambique has been a particular victim of sudden climatic variations, regularly suffering
the scourge of droughts, torrential rains with floods, and cyclonic winds. In the twenty-five
years of independence the country was hit by two violent droughts lasting more than two
years each, at least sixteen registered cyclones and several floods, two of which were large.
These phenomena are commonly called natural disasters.

Talking about the causes and effects of natural disasters is the main objective of this work.
Mozambique is obviously not an extraordinary victim of extreme weather events. In fact, they
have now become one of the planet's global problems. Accentuated by several factors, natural
or produced by societies, their causes range from industrialization to population growth and
the intensive use of resources, often preventing their renewal. Some of these causes are
identified and produce mainly negative and often regional or even global effects.

The work will have a qualitative approach and will obey the following structure, namely:
cover; Feedback Sheet; Sheet for improvement recommendations: To be filled in by the tutor;
index; introduction; objectives; methodology; analysis and discussion (development); final
considerations (conclusion); and bibliographic references.

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1.1. Objectives
1.1.1. General
 Write a written essay on the causes and consequences of natural disasters

1.1.2. Specifics
 Set the concept of natural disasters
 Identify natural disasters
 Mention the causes and consequences of natural disasters

1.2. Methodology
The present work was carried out based on the rules of production and publication of
scientific works of the Catholic University of Mozambique. The contents were developed
using the reading of several literary works, articles, bibliographic references and manuals that
address issues related to the topic in question. As it is not enough, we also resorted to the use
of the internet.

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2. Natural Disasters
2.1. concept
Disasters are conceptualized as the result of adverse events that cause major impacts on
society, being distinguished mainly in terms of their origin, that is, the nature of the
phenomenon that triggers them. According to Saito (2015), natural disasters are common
natural phenomena that can result in natural disasters, such as: cyclones, floods, landslides,
endemics, epidemics, pandemics, erosion, volcanic eruption, tropical cyclone (hurricane,
typhoon), forest fire, flood, meteor strike, storms (ice, hail, lightning), tornado, tsunami,
earthquake. Also according to Saito (2015), refers that:

The concept of natural disaster has been widely circulated in the media and in
scientific dissemination materials. Natural disasters as a result of the impact of an
extreme or intense natural phenomenon on a social system, which causes serious
damages that exceed the ability of those affected to live with the impact. One of the
hallmarks of this definition is that it relates the natural phenomenon to the social
system, through a cause and effect relationship. Note that there is a distinction
between natural event and natural disaster. The natural event can occur without the
presence of man, while the natural disaster always presupposes damage to man (p. 68).

Natural disasters can be classified by scientific field. Thus, according to Saito (2015), we have
biological natural disasters (epidemics, insect infestations, animal attacks), geophysical
(earthquakes, volcanoes, mass movements without water), climatological (droughts, extreme
temperatures, fires), hydrological (floods, mass movements with water) and meteorological
(storms). The aforementioned author states that:

One of the discursive functions produced by the phrase natural disaster is that disasters
that affect man are meant as natural. Although a relationship with the social system is
always assumed, the cause is shown to be natural, that is, a natural phenomenon
causes a disaster with social damage. Thus, if a storm causes flooding in a city where
the ground is heavily impermeable by asphalt and urban construction, the cause is not
the asphalting or construction (technological cause), but the storm (natural cause)
(p.71).

Watch that this is a meaning produced by the linguistic materiality of the phrase natural
disaster. Specifically by the presence of the adjective natural determining the name disaster. It
is pertinent, in view of this, to consider that in the discussions about urban events, there are
discourses that, due to the materiality of the conceptual terms, silence causes of a different
order than the natural one.

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2.2. Causes and Consequences of Natural Disasters
According to Saito (2015), the causes and consequences of these effects are numerous.
Ground vibrations, fault openings, landslides, changes in the Earth's rotation, floods. In
addition, deleterious effects occur in man-made constructions, resulting in loss of life,
injuries, high financial and social losses, homelessness of entire populations, damage to the
sanitary supply system, proliferation of diseases, hunger, loss of habitat of species , and so
many other disastrous situations.

According to Saito (2015), the main causes of natural disasters are related to one or more of
the following conditions:

 Concern for the environment;

 Logging;
 Economic goals.

Many environmental disasters result from the lack of zeal for the environment. Tragedies
caused by human action are often the result of economic objectives, when profit takes
precedence over concern for environmental care.

Main consequences:

 Health and sanitary problems;

 Destabilization of fauna and flora;
 Displacement of people;
 homeless people;
 Economic damage.

Saito (2015) also says that, as a consequence of environmental disasters, people's health and
safety are shaken, because water and air pollution result in diseases. In some cases, the
catastrophic situation leaves no alternative but to abandon the region victimized by the
disaster, as happened in the Chernobyl accident.

However, although environmental disasters can be caused by economic objectives, a lot of

money ends up being spent on trying to restore living conditions after a disaster. This is what
happens when there is a need to build houses after earthquakes, or when there are losses in the

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tourist sector due to oil stains that reach the beaches, which ends up generating
unemployment.

2.3. Cause and Consequences of Natural Disasters in Mozambique

On the night of March 14-15, 2019, tropical cyclone Idai caused a storm that left 500 dead in
Mozambique. According to Benessene (2022), contaminated water caused cholera, in addition
to the floods that destroyed the livelihoods of the inhabitants. The collapse of walls, being
dragged by the water, lightning, fires and uncontrolled fires, falling trees and electrocution are
among the main causes of deaths. Also according to the author:

At least 134 people have died and more than 760,000 have been affected by natural
disasters in the current rainy season in Mozambique, according to the latest report by
Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction
(INGD). The highest number of deaths was recorded in Nampula (62), followed by
Zambézia (42) and Tete (10), in northern and central Mozambique, some of the
provinces most affected by tropical storms and Cyclone Gombe, between 11 and 19
December. March, and by Storm Ana in January (p. 55).

According to the INGD, the collapse of walls, being dragged by the water, lightning, fires and
uncontrolled fires, falling trees and electrocution are among the main causes of deaths. Of the
total of 762,523 people affected, corresponding to 151,331 families, 333 were injured as a
result of the bad weather in Mozambique since October. Benessene (2022) also states that:

The current rainy season also caused the partial and total destruction of 135,860
houses and the flooding of another 26,231, in addition to destroying 3,843 classrooms
of precarious and conventional construction, affecting 468,116 students, 8,304
teachers and 1,700 schools. According to the authorities, the bad weather also affected
103 hospital units, damaged 2,965 power poles, 644 houses of worship, 6,300
kilometers of road, 19 bridges, among other infrastructures (p. 56).

The author also states that the northern and central regions of Mozambique were, between 11
and 19 March, under heavy rains caused by Cyclone Gombe and the tropical depression that
followed it. Cyclone Gombe caused 59 deaths and 82 injuries, mainly in the northern province
of Nampula, in many cases due to the collapse of houses built with traditional material (clay
and reeds), according to official data. Mozambique faces several storms annually during the
cyclonic and rainy season, which runs between October and April.

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3. Conclusion
Disasters are conceptualized as the result of adverse events that cause major impacts on
society, being distinguished mainly in terms of their origin, that is, the nature of the
phenomenon that triggers them. The causes and consequences of these effects are numerous.
Ground vibrations, fault openings, landslides, changes in the Earth's rotation, floods. In
addition, deleterious effects occur in man-made constructions, resulting in loss of life,
injuries, high financial and social losses, homelessness of entire populations, damage to the
sanitary supply system, proliferation of diseases, hunger, loss of habitat of species , and so
many other disastrous situations.

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4. Reference’s Bibliographical
Benessene, M. V. (2002). Manual para interpretação das previsões sazonais. República de
Moçambique. Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia. Centro de Meteorologia Regional
da Beira. 100 pág.

Saito, S. (2015). Desastres naturais: conceitos básicos. São José dos Campos: Instituto
Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais.