Never ending

I'm working on an upgrade of my book The End is Nigh for the Bulgarian market. It will be published by Perseus Books later this year, and of course an update is desirable. There have been so many disasters lately and millions of people are currently affected.

Earthquakes in Haiti and Chile earlier this year, and the climate/weather-related disasters this summer: Heat wave and increased mortality in Moscow, forest fires, floods in Eastern Europe, China, and Pakistan. This is not unusual if consulting disaster statistics, as major disaster strike every year smaller natural disasters occur every day. Still, the last months have been devastating. 

(Pakistan. Image: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10896849)

There is only one recipe that will work for reducing the number of deaths and affected people following natural disasters: reduction of vulnerability. Easier said than done, of course. Check out the website for ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction) for latest news.

Before lower vulnerability in poor countries becomes a reality, the affected countries need assistance, in particular Pakistan. A Pakistani-Norwegian politician in Oslo has said that the apparently low willingness in Norway to donate to the victims in Pakistan is due to skepticism towards Muslims. This type of statements has luckily received little support. If less money is being donated to Pakistan these days compared to during other natural disasters, the solution likely lies elsewhere.