To begin, on January 12, 2010, the capital city of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, was stuck by a devestating earthquake that left the city in ruins and thousands trapped, injured, homeless, or dead. Without a doubt, the already poor country suffered a monumental loss that could not be resolved soon, for Haiti was unable to handle this problem alone. But help was not far behind. Within days, volunteers from all over the world were flocking to Haiti in order to help them in rescuing victims, providing resources and other much-needed aid. There were many large organizations, such as the Peace Corps, involved, but there were also many small groups collecting money for Haiti. One such group was my own school, where we have been raising money for Haiti for over 4 months and have narly reached $10,000! This is most definitely a case where international aid is present to a large degree.
Another disaster currently affecting northern Europe is the eruption of an Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull. In late March to early April of 2010, the volcano underwent several eruptions. These eruptions spewed enough partical-filled ash into the air that airplanes were grounded for days, across much of northern Europe. These eruptions are reported to also be responsible for flooding, ocean pollution and even electrical storms, and they have yet to officially cease. Unfortunately, the only major reports now are concerning how costly this situation is for airlines and how dangerous it is for humans, not if measures are yet being made to relieve it. this amy be due to how recent the situation is, or perhaps there are no evident solutions at the moment.
In addition, on April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, releasing approximately 42,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf. This is becoming a major area of concerning for those involved in fishing and seafood industry in the gulf, and to all those living along the gulf coast. It is even specualted that the oil may spread from the Gulf up along the U.S. east coast. This spill is reported to be extremely costly, already totaling many millions of dollars, and that the coast continues to rise. However, in this case, organizations such as BP (British Petroleum), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Military are planning methods of containment and clean up.
Lastly comes the situation that could end up affecting the entire world: Global Warming. This ongoing trend is referenced often in politics, but typically only as a means of directing a campaign somewhere or to point out: "This is bad." It is unfortunate that rarely are long term or practical plans heard of to actually resolve the issue; something on a larger scale of "use your car less", especially given the gravity of the situation. The excess of greenhosue gases in the atmosphere could theoretically cause a sort of climate clllapse disaster if left unhecked long enough, and NOAA reports that once the levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere ahve reached a certain extent, there will be no reversal. This is the environmental issue that really needs to be resolved, for it is responsible for many other environmental issues around the world. Yet despite this, no one seems ready to take responsibility for it. If there could come about a program where the governments of the world joined forces to create a plan to stop Global Warming, as well as other local environmental disasters, there would be a much greater chance for increased effect in assuring the elimination of these threats. After all, we all live on this planet together, and we need to begin acting like it!
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