Human Migration to Coastal Areas Results in High Casualties From Natural Disasters

Coastal areas have always been popular areas for humans to migrate to, says journalist and author Rodger Jacobs, but as more and more people encroach upon the dwindling patches of open land remaining on the planet, their vulnerability to the destructive forces of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis multiplies. "There are no rewards or punishments in nature," Jacobs asserts. "But there are consequences."

In 2000, Jacobs wrote "Force Majeure" for Eye Magazine, a seminal article exploring natural disasters and eschatology. After interviewing a dozen scholars and scientists Jacobs concluded that the staggering and horrific death tolls from disastrous events, such as the most recent tsunami on the shores of the Indian Ocean, are not the work of God but rather the failure of science to keep pace with human migration.

"The Pacific Ocean is a more likely spot than the Indian Ocean" for a massive tsunami, says Jacobs. There is not a robust warning system in South-East Asia for tsunamis and yet, paradoxically, the human population in the region continues to explode. "The Indian Ocean tsunami is already considered the costliest disaster in modern history," says Jacobs. "We need to be prepared in the years and decades ahead for more of the same or worse."

ABOUT RODGER JACOBS
Rodger Jacobs is a Los Angeles-based journalist, screenwriter, and feature documentary producer. His articles can be found in Wireless Week, Hustler, X Biz World, High Beam Research, Juxtapoz, Progressive News Digest, and a wide host of other periodicals.

Jacobs co-produced "Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes', winner of the Best Feature Documentary prize at the South by Southwest Film Festival (1999). He is the author of "Christopher Walken and the Tuna Fish Sandwich and Other L.A. Stories" (Lulu Publishing).

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