On air: is there a better way of preparing for natural disasters ?
| 14:55 UK time, Wednesday, 18 August 2010
The UK has described the international response to the Pakistan disaster as "woefully inadequate" as new flood warnings are issued today.
This year, Pakistan isn't alone in suffering an appalling natural disaster ;
- North Korea and China are suffering the worst floods in a decade.
- Haiti and Chile have suffered devastating earthquakes
- In Russia, Spain and Portugal a record heatwave saw widespread forest fires.
But while many of you have told us that there's not a lot anyone can do in the wake of natural disasters, there are others who are asking if the world could do better when it comes to preparing for them.
- How about a UN rapid response force as advocated ? A kind of "Global 911"?
- Richer countries being "taxed" to pay for a better infrastructure in poorer countries?
- Disaster-prone countries being given specific targets about re-building , or moving populations out of danger zones - for example, places like Monserrat?
- Shared science to give a of predicting disasters?
Is there anything we can do better to prepare - and therefore mitigate the affects of - natural disasters?
