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In the first semester of 2011, natural disasters had a devastating impact on human society. Preliminary EM-DAT figures showed the occurrence of 108 natural disasters, which killed over 23 thousand people, affected nearly 44 million others and caused more than US$ 253 billion of economic damages.

Sixty-one countries experienced a natural disaster, with 11 disasters (10%) happening in the Philippines alone. This country was mainly hit by severe floods and storms. However China, suffering from 8 disasters, counted the most people affected by natural disasters (25.9 million or 59%).

Natural Disasters in Countries with Very High Human Development

Merely halfway through the year 2011, disaster figures continue to show the tremendous impacts that natural disasters have on human societies. The end of 2010 and the first months of 2011 were particularly marked by extreme events in several developed countries.

Natural disasters in 2010

In 2010, 373 natural disasters were recorded in the EM-DAT database. They killed over 296,800 people, affected over 207 million others and caused more than US$109 billion of econom-ic damages. The two most lethal disasters - the January 12 earth-quake in Haiti, which killed over 222,500 people, as well as the Russian summer heat wave, which caused about 56,000 fatalities - made 2010 the deadliest year in at least two decades. For the first time, the Americas headed the list of the world's most af-fected continents, with 75 per cent of total deaths were caused

Refugees in Kenya

There are four refugee camps in Kenya, with three located near the city of Dadaab in Garissa District (North Eastern province) and hosting mostly Somali refugees. The remain-ing camp is located in Kakuma, Turkana district (Rift Val-ley), and hosts mainly Somali and Sudanese refugees. As the number of Somali refugees steadily increased over the last 3 years, transfers from Dadaab to Kakuma camp have been implemented in order to alleviate chronic overcrowding. Indeed, Dadaab was originally established to accommodate a maximum of 90,000 refugees, and today hosts

Malnutrition in Niger

In May-June 2010, the government of Niger conducted a nationwide survey to investigate levels of malnutrition among children in collaboration with UN agencies and several NGOs. This was the sixth assessment in a series started in October 2005 following the food crisis, with the aim of reinforcing evidence based humanitarian decision-making.

The results of the survey show high levels of malnutrition throughout the country. At the national level, global acute malnutrition (GAM) was 16.7%, well above the 10% emergency threshold commonly

In 2009, 335 natural disasters were reported worldwide. They killed 10 655 persons, affected more than 119 million others and caused over US$ 41.3 billion economic damages. The absence of natural disasters with an extremely large human impact in 2009, so-called 'mega-disasters', was reflected by a decreased number of reported deaths, victims and economic damages, compared to the annual averages for the period 2000-2008.

In the EM-DAT database, disasters caused by seismic activity include both earthquakes (ground shaking) and tsunamis. Their unpredictable nature and vast impact makes them one of the most lethal kinds of disasters. Earthquakes were responsible for 29% of natural disaster-related deaths in the last 30 years, but accounted for 58% of fatalities in the last decade, mainly due to the absence of major droughts since 2000. 56% of all earthquakes happened in Asia, causing 90% of global earthquake fatalities. Single major earthquake disasters can have a tremendous impact. The top

Patterns of mortality rates in Darfur Conflict

In October 2004, the World Health Organization issued a press release stating that the Darfur conflict had cost the lives of 70,000 Darfuris so far. This estimation was soon criticized and by May 2005, 8 months after the press release, 5 other mortality estimates had been published, ranging from 63,000 to 400,000 deaths. Over the next years, many other estimations would follow. Unfortunately, most of these focussed almost only on the death toll and had very little consideration for changes

This issue of CRED Crunch Newsletter offers an overview of natural disasters in Europe over the last 20 years (1989 - 2008)