HOMEVOA Learning EnglishAs It Is

※本文をクリック（タップ）するとその文章の音声を聴くことができます。
  右上スイッチを「連続」にすると、その部分から終わりまで続けて聴くことができます。

How Should the World Protect Itself from Natural Disasters?


How Should the World Protect Itself from Natural Disasters?
As It Is
How should the world protect itself from natural disasters and climate change?
And who should be paying for this kind of protection?
These and other questions are being asked at the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.
The conference is taking place this week in Sendai, Japan.
A powerful earthquake and tsunami struck the area four years ago.
A cold wind blows sand along the coast of Sendai.
Japanese police officers are searching for evidence in the area.
They are examining material washed up on the sand for signs of the March 2011 tsunami.
Huge waves struck northern Japan and killed close to 16,000 people.
More than 2,500 others are missing and thought to be dead.
Officer Hidenori Kashahara is taking part in the search effort.
He says Japan owes it to the families of the missing to keep looking.
“We have not found anyone for a while in this area,” he says.
“We sometimes find bones, but they are usually the remains of animals.”
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Sendai earlier this week.
He praised the recovery effort as a model for others.
“Sustainability starts in Sendai.
The disaster risk reduction can be a frontline against the climate change.”
Last week, Cyclone Pam struck the island nation of Vanuatu.
The powerful storm changed its expected path at the last minute.
The president of Vanuatu told the UN conference that development in his country had been stopped -- “wiped out” were his exact words.
Michel Jarraud is the head of the World Meteorological Organization.
He told VOA that early warning systems had saved lives in the South Pacific.
He spoke about Cyclone Pam.
“This kind of cyclone is very unusual.
We are not even sure at this stage because we still need to wait to see what was the exact strength of this cyclone, but it’s very unusual.
And it’s even more challenging for a country to deal with hazards which don’t happen regularly.”
In late 2004, an earthquake hit the northwestern coast of Indonesia, causing a tsunami across the Indian Ocean.
More than 200,000 people were killed.
The tsunami led the United Nations to approve a 10-year program for reducing disaster risk.
It is called the Hyogo Framework for Action.
That 10-year period is ending this week.
Delegates to the conference are trying to reach a new agreement.
Tom Mitchell works at the Overseas Development Institute, an environmental and humanitarian policy group.
He says the cost of natural disasters should force agreement.
“Three hundred billion dollars of losses from disasters every year -- so it’s very much at stake that you’ve got this big financial toll, but in some ways, you know, this isn’t causing the galvanizing effect that we want to see in terms of investment in resilience.”
Mr. Mitchell says a few issues have slowed progress toward an agreement.
“Finance, who’s gonna pay for the scale of the problem, particularly given that climate change is ramping this up and there’s an expectation on the richer, polluting countries to pay a bit more.
That’s a sticking point.
Issues of whether we are talking about conflict risk and disaster risk together and the link between those (are) really problematic for some countries, particularly in the Middle East.”
Delegates mostly agree that natural disasters are causing bigger problems.
But they are having a difficult time deciding how to reduce the risks.
The severe damage caused by Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu is pressuring them to reach an agreement on how the world should deal with natural disasters.
I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.
 
Reproduced by the courtesy of the Voice of America
←Sending Humans to Mars
主な掲載作品
Botchan 坊っちゃん
The Great Gatsby 華麗なるギャツビー
Sherlock Holmes Collection
The Adventure Of The Copper Beeches ぶな屋敷 NEW!!
The Adventure Of The Beryl Coronet 緑柱石の宝冠 NEW!!
The Adventure Of The Noble Bachelor 独身の貴族 NEW!
The Adventure Of The Engineer's Thumb 技師の親指 NEW!
The Boscombe Valley Mystery ボスコム渓谷の惨劇 NEW!
The Sign of the Four 四つの署名 NEW!
The Reigate Puzzle ライゲートの大地主
The Crooked Man 背中の曲がった男
The Adventure Of Charles Augustus Milverton チャールズ・オーガスタス・ミルヴァートン
Silver Blaze 白銀の失踪
The Adventure Of The Solitary Cyclist 孤独な自転車乗り
The Gloria Scott グロリア・スコット号
The Yellow Face 黄色い顔
The Resident Patient 入院患者
The Adventure Of The Sussex Vampire サセックスの吸血鬼
The Stock-Broker's Clerk 株式仲買人
The Adventure Of The Three Students 三人の学生
The Adventure Of The Norwood Builder ノーウッドの建築家
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot 悪魔の足
A Case Of Identity 花婿失踪事件
The Man With The Twisted Lip 唇のねじれた男
The Five Orange Pips オレンジの種五つ
A Study In Scarlet 緋色の研究
The Adventure Of The Empty House 空き家の冒険
The Adventure Of The Dying Detective 瀕死の探偵
The Adventure Of The Blue Carbuncle 青い紅玉
The Adventure Of The Dancing Men 踊る人形
The Adventure Of The Speckled Band まだらのひも
A Scandal In Bohemia ボヘミアの醜聞
The Red-Headed League 赤毛組合
Little Women 若草物語
A Dog of Flanders フランダースの犬
The Old Man and the Sea 老人と海
The Gift of the Magi 賢者の贈り物
The Last Leaf 最後の一葉
QRコード
スマホでも同じレイアウトで読むことができます。
主な掲載作品
Botchan 坊っちゃん
The Great Gatsby 華麗なるギャツビー
Sherlock Holmes Collection
Little Women 若草物語
A Dog of Flanders フランダースの犬
The Old Man and the Sea 老人と海
The Gift of the Magi 賢者の贈り物
The Last Leaf 最後の一葉
WORDS AND THEIR STORIES ことばの由来


検索
準備中