During the past 20 years, natural hazards have killed about three million people. More than 800 million have suffered loss of home, health, family members or friends, and endured economic hardship. I refer to these events as natural hazards, not natural disasters. The distinction is deliberate. We cannot stop volcanoes from erupting, the earth from shaking, or winds from blowing.
Natural hazards are low-probability events that are largely unstoppable.
Natural disasters are the unfortunately common consequences of these extreme events. Millions of people now die unnecessarily. We have the scientific and practical knowledge to survive phenomena that have devastated mankind since before Biblical times. It is an opportunity of historic significance. Over the past few decades we have witnessed events of massive proportions, mainly in the developing world.