Manmade disasters?

Jacob von Bisterfeld
When nature unleashes its awesome power, be it by means of tsunamis, torrential downpours or tornadoes, Homo Sapiens is more often than not reduced to being a powerless pawn in the mighty hands of the elements.
The number of natural calamities appears to be on the increase and places that were considered ¡°safe?from the vagaries of the weather are suddenly being hit. And hit hard.
In Germany, last month, torrential rains caused the Danube and other rivers to sow death and destruction in parts of Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, submerging entire villages and parts of cities.
For the second time in about half a score years, hapless residents are shovelling tons of rocks and debris, again, from their houses and roads.
This year in China, deluges have caused riverbanks to break, inundating low lying parts and obliterating anything in their destructive path.
The debate is still raging but many worthy scientists attribute rises in global temperatures, unseasonably hot summers, unprecedented cold winters and severe climatic changes to manmade causes: Pollutants of the vilest of black plumages and kind are discharged without treatment; too many automobiles spewing forth greenhouse gases that gather in the troposphere and other spheres, insulating planet earth while the accumulated heat causes polar caps and glaciers to melt.
At the Kyoto conference in 1997 virtually the whole world signed it¡¯s protocol and later ratified it to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Except, of course, Bully Boy USA.
¡°No,?so spoke the president: ¡°America will not ratify anything which will reduce the economic wellbeing and the comforts of the American people.?
Are the Americans thus not crapping in their own backyard? Are they not part of the global village?
Will some cities in the US not be submerged when in 100 years or more, the seas have risen by many metres?
The American president was unwilling to substantially increase taxes on his citizens?gas guzzling SUVs and other cars, raise petrol prices, introduce pollution reducing laws and take part in the by now thriving market of trading in financial debits charged and credits awarded under the Kyoto Protocol to contributors of greenhouse gasses or reward the well-behaved for goody measures taken that engender reductions.
The president had no intention to agree to any necessary pollution reduction that did not come from an American initiative and worse, that might reduce the comfort of Americans.
Incredible? Absolutely.
Stupid? Yes.
Hurricane Katrina has come and gone, its force has been unmatched by any storm New Orleans and Louisiana have ever had the misfortune to endure in recorded history.
The city was mostly submerged, wind and water mercilessly tearing apart flimsily constructed wooden framed houses that should never have been allowed by law to be built in a tornado belt.
Tens of thousands have fled the county and many were holed up in a sports stadium under extremely unsanitary conditions. Dead bodies littered the streets, anarchy broke out.
Electric power to the city was cut, abetted by the American¡¯s love for overhead power lines which are cheap to erect but stop working the minute a strong wind rears its devastating head, lightning strikes or a car runs off the road crashing into these poles supporting masses of wires and transformers.
Losses of life, precious heirlooms and irreplaceable works of art all make for a colossal catastrophe.
Estimates to rebuild the city vary from US$30 billion to more than US$100 billion.
Could this unleashing of nature¡¯s powers have been prevented?
Probably not.
The human tragedy in the US is immense and our compassion is with the unfortunate victims.
May this calamity prompt the Americans and their political machinery to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, as China and many other concerned and responsible nations have done?
Are they likely to? Probably not. They are a proud lot and the US is the mightiest nation on earth, you know. They don¡¯t take orders or consider suggestions from anyone.
Well, pigs might fly and the whole world is waiting with baited breath.
(The author is CEO of a Sino-German joint venture in China)