World Environment Day: From Amazon to India, nature has suffered enough in one year

Bush fires, earthquakes, cyclones and more, 2019-2020 has seen various natural disasters. These disasters have caused major structural damages and has destroyed wildlife, forests, indigenous species and has taken thousands of lives.

Record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought fuelled a series of massive bushfires across Australia that started in November, which caused severe damage to the wildlife, human civilization and environment.

Till March 2020, the fires burnt an estimated 18.6 million hectares (46 million acres; 186,000 square kilometres; 72,000 square miles), destroyed over 5,900 buildings (including 2,779 homes) and killed at least 34 people and nearly 480 million wildlife.

In 2019, in California there were almost 6,872 fire incidents, burning more than 253,321 acres with 732 structures damaged or destroyed, and three fatalities. The fires did immense damage to wildlife.

A tropical storm Imelda hit Houston in the US in September. The City of Houston received record rainfall with 9.18 inches of rain, according to a report by the National Weather Service. Water upto 30-50 inches clogged the streets, which resulted in damage of structures and loss of two lives.

In Puerto Rico, on January 6 there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, followed on January 7 with a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. On January 11 there was an aftershock that registered at 5.9 magnitude. More than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed. A lot of areas ha to rsurvive for days without power and water. This also caused immense financial loss.

Approximately one million Indigenous People living in the Amazon were affected by the forest fires, as the fires destroyed their homes, crops, livestock, animals and water systems. 

Cyclone Amphan, moving at a speed of 220 to 230 kilometres (137-143 miles) per hour, was the worst storm over the Bay of Bengal since the 1999 super cyclone that hit Odisha. 

The cyclone caused a damage of Rs 1 trillion ($13 billion) to infrastructure and crops, affected more than 13 million people. Bangladesh and India have lost at least 102 people in the cyclone.

Cyclone Nisarga hit India in June with wind speeds of 110-120 kmph. This was perhaps the first such storm to threaten Mumbai in more than 70 years. The extent of damage is being investigated right now.

A tornado (representative image)