Man-made and Black Swan Disasters

A Black Swan event is unforeseen that brings an appalling impact because societies could never perceive or expect such an event occurring.

Indeed, Myanmar has one of the highest rates of forest loss on Earth. Its deforestation rate has increased by 13.5 percent since the 1990s.

Evidence suggests that illegal logging is widespread causing deforestation and global warming, thus generating biodiversity loss in Myanmar resulting ‘Black Swan’ disaster such as Cyclone ‘Nargis’.

In 2008, an estimated 150,000 people in Myanmar died during the devastated cyclone and shattered valuable agricultural land. About 2.4 million people were severely affected with schools and health amenities seriously damaged.

The Cyclone has added to the difficulty of farmers facing low rice prices and the high cost of fuel and fertilizers. Conceding the small farmers become more indebted, the chance for more entrepreneurs to accumulate lands rises.

Myanmar’s worst natural disaster highlighted its strengths and the understandings of the regime. There were clear warnings that the ‘Nargis’ was a severe cyclonic storm heading for southern Burma and the regime at no stage prepared despite notices conveyed by the Indian Meteorological Department.

The lack of communication and insufficient warnings suggests a failure to see threat and its deficiency of reaction to fore-warnings ensued in far more loss of life.