Impact to human life:The areas of South Asia that were hardest hit consist mainly of poor countries. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were the most affected areas in this terrible disaster. These countries had neither the proper disaster warning systems nor any type of acceptable emergency shelters. Additionally, they did not have an ample number of hospitals, medicines, supplies of food and enough shelters to care for the survivors of the tsunami. Therefore the wounded died suffering infections, hunger and depression and left thousands possibly missing. The tsunami washed parts of countries away leaving the inhabitants in total devastation.
Though, the worst is yet to come. It has been found that people are now drinking from tainted water supplies, since the fact that many resources or cargoes were unable to reach the people in a timely manner. The need for clean water is pressing. Health officials say that cases of diarrhea illness were reported across the areas of South Asia. The World Health Organization predicated that about five million survivors of the calamity are at the risk of getting infections from the disease (Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, 2005). Volunteers attempting to treat the survivors are still struggling to provide the necessary help across all the nations affected.
In addition to the diarrhea illnesses, there are major concerns about other illnesses such as cholera and typhoid. People can become infected very easily with the consumption of tainted food and water. Once infected, the individual can suffer form diarrhea, dehydration, and eventually death. Other illnesses such as respiratory malfunction including pneumonia are prone to occur among adolescents as well as seniors. In the mean time, medical relief agencies distributed some water purification tablets that sanitize the seawater. Already, the World Health Organization is sending engineers to fix the sewage and contaminated wells.
Others are attempting to educate the people about the need for proper hygiene. With the amazing assistance from around the globe, those who survived have a great chance of surviving this catastrophe. The unforgiving tsunami that stretched across numerous Asian countries not only destroyed the human life in its path, but additionally has left its mark on the environment as well. The saltwater that has flooded thousands of the countries' farms has contaminated the soil to the point that is totally useless for the production of crops. Authorities warn that rice paddies, fruit plantations, and other farms may take 10 years to be productive again (Michael VanRooyen, Jennifer Leaning, 2005). International aid agencies have, for the past 20 years, been digging wells throughout these countries in an effort to stop the spread of diseases, such as cholera, that are transmitted by contaminated water.
These wells are now flooded with salt water rendering them totally useless for human consumption. Experts estimate that it may take as long as two to three years to flush these wells thoroughly enough to produce safe drinking water (Anonymous, 2005). Impact to Non-human life:The impact of the December tsunamis in South Asia on animals, marine life, and their ecosystems was tremendous as well. Coastal ecosystems (coral reefs, mangroves, sea grasses, and estuarine mudflats) took significant damage to their structure and function which affects to the habitat in which marine animals and even land animals live. The force of the wave itself has most likely damaged physical structures, as indicated by early assessments of the tsunami (www.oceanatlas.org).
These habitats will take several months to several years to recover from the damage (www.noaa.gov). Chemical changes have included saltwater intrusion, eutrophication of the water resulting from increased runoff, raw sewage, and decomposition of animal and plant life including un-recovered bodies. Leftover timber from buildings, mangroves, and fishing boats that have washed into the ocean will also produce chemical change in the water. Additionally, numerous non-biodegradable wastes, such as plastics that have been dragged in and out of the water, have added to the marine debris (www.oceanatlas.org).Sea life was as well destroyed by the tsunamis. Many fish and sea mammals including dolphins and sharks were washed up on land and displaced from their habitat whether it being on land or to another part of the sea.
Many species use the coral reef off the coast of the Indian Ocean to survive every day and it is now uprooted and destroyed. Mangroves, which protect the shore from erosion and serve as nurseries for young fish have also been uprooted. Although little research has been done on the impact of tsunamis on the reefs, experts in marine ecology find it hard to believe that anything could be still be intact after the force of wind and water that the December tsunami brought. Experts also believe that the coral reefs in the Indian Ocean were just recovering from the damage caused by the changing water temperatures brought by El Nino several years ago. This recent turn of events will now push the recovery process to decades, or maybe centuries depending on the volume of damage (animal.discovery.com). The most obvious marine casualties, of the tsunami waves, were washed up in their wake. In Thailand, for instance, dolphins were swept 500 yards (500 meters) inland.
Many dead and injured sea turtles were left high and dry, and a three-foot (one-meter) shark ended up in a hotel swimming pool. Beaches were littered with dead fish as well as human bodies. And while there are fears for some marine species-such as threatened dugongs and saltwater crocodiles in the Andaman Islands-scientists are most concerned about the habitats these animals depend on, as mentioned earlier (news.nationalgeographic.com).Wildlife on land had a bit more luck when it came to surviving the tsunamis due to much more acute sensory abilities than humans have. Ravi Corea, the president and founder of the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society reported that as early as the morning of December 26 that elephants were seen running away from the shore up the hills of Sri Lanka and Thailand. Unless many were washed into the ocean, two weeks after the tsunami hit Corea also stated that, "there were still no reports of dead carcasses of any animals you would expect such as elephant, deer, leopards, cows, or goats (foxnews.com)." Some call it a sixth sense but experts in animal behavior such as Herve Fritz, a research in animal behavior at France's National Center for Scientific Research says that, "In anything to do with vibrations, seismic shocks or sound waves, animals have capabilities which we do not." Animal experts also believe that four-footed creatures are able to sense early danger through the soil or an airborne noise produced by the advancing tsunami that is inaudible to humans (animal.discovery.com).On the other side of the coin, animal activists societies have reported stories of dogs being left behind starving after their owners were washed away and now wandering into morgues and eating dead human corpses to survive.
Cows, goats, ponies, and dogs now have no clean water to use so they are now being contaminated with all sorts of bacteria including causing deaths indirectly from the tsunami. Animal refugee camps have been setup to take in surviving animals in need of care and mobile veterinary clinics are already operational in the region. In Sri Lanka, hundreds of dogs, including those in refugee camps, have already been vaccinated against diseases that can spread in the aftermath of disasters (http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/indexen.php?u= htmlen/tsunami.html). So while wildlife has been more indirectly affected by the Dec. 26 tsunami, it seems that so far, marine life has been directly and more long-term affected.Impact to the Environment:In the wake of the tsunami, numerous environmental issues were identified.
Among these issues were salinization and contamination of soil and ground water, destruction of mangrove and other forests, and stripping of soil. One of the things that were discovered was that intact ecosystems helped mitigate the damage of the tsunami. Healthy mangrove forests, sea grass beds, and coral reefs absorbed the blow of the wave and protected the environment (and people) from worse damage. Sea grass beds protected coastlines from erosion. Mangrove forests filter sediments before they get to coral reefs.
Mangrove forests also protected coastlines as well as human and animal habitation by preventing serious damage from the wave (Rinne, 2005). On the coast of India, Pichavaram and Muthupet, which have their mangrove forests mostly intact, suffered less damage than the surrounding coastline (MOHAMMED MESBAHI, 2005). Malaysia and Sri Lanka made similar observations but it was also observed that where mangrove forests were small (no more than a thin strips along the coast) that the trees were uprooted and swept inland to cause more damage. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization suggested that mangrove forests be restored to help protect against future disasters. This would include replanting damaged forests as well as protecting the existing ones from logging in the wake of the disaster and from the sediment and salt washed into the forests that could threaten the trees (M2 Presswire, 2005). The salt may prove to be too much for the mangroves and other opportunistic species that can better handle .
