Did deforestation and tropical storms cause Haiti’s earthquake?
A tropical storm system over Haiti Long before Haiti’s January 12, 2010 earthquake devastated the capital Port-Au-Prince and much of the surrounding towns and villages, the country was already wrestling with a legacy of environmental degradation and deforestation that has denuded what was once a richly forested landscape. This deforestation has been identified as a primary culprit in Haiti’s stunted development. It has limited crop production... Read More
Assessing Environmental Recovery and Opportunity in Haiti
Denuded hillsides in rural Haiti (Photo: Scott MacKenzie) The long road to recovery is under way in Haiti, but it will be an arduous and difficult journey. Beyond the devastation wrought by the earthquake, the country will have to continue to deal with many of the ills that plagued it prior. It is well known by now that Haiti had (and continues to have) the highest poverty levels in the western hemisphere. The nation severely lacks even the most basic... Read More
Haiti Regeneration Initiative
A video from the Earth Institute discussing ecological restoration efforts in Haiti, and how the work has adjusted to new realities on the ground as a result of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. A Future for Haiti: Science and Solutions for a Beleaguered Nation from Earth Institute on Vimeo. Read More
100 Beds for Haiti
Project Groundswell is proud to announce the launch of the 100 Beds for Haiti Campaign. Tomorrow will mark the two-month anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed hundreds of thousands of people – leaving far more injured and homeless. In the wake of the tragedy, we have been working with a group of friends and colleagues to help establish a project that addresses both the immediate needs of Haitians as well as the... Read More
Catastrophe in Chile vs. Haiti and the Built Environment
When I was younger I remember feeling the Loma Prieta quake while at an after-school program, and then upon returning home, heading next door to see my neighbor’s swimming pool still thrashing about. It was a peculiar sight. (Photo: Creative Corps / Flickr) That sense of peculiarity has returned to me these last couple months. First the earthquake in Haiti occurring a little less than a year after I was in the country assisting with a post disaster... Read More
Weekly gRound-up: 2/28/2010
A Massive Earthquake Rocks Chile – Why the Discrepancy in Damage and Death? The 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile yesterday was 501 times as powerful as the earthquake that leveled Port-au-Prince, yet the death toll in Chile has been almost insignificant in comparison – >250,000 vs. 704 (at last count). The differences in geography, development, and preparedness are described by The Washington Post. Also check out USGS shake... Read More
The New Security Climate: Environmental Vulnerability
The recent earthquake in Haiti has highlighted a whole host of issues related to development, poverty, the environment, and security. Countries in which natural resources are mismanaged, degraded, or heavily exploited are more susceptible to the devastation brought on by environmental change, and when extreme events and conflicts do occur, these countries are far less likely to effectively respond to the crisis. Even before the earthquake in Haiti,... Read More
A Look at Haiti’s Environmental Vulnerability
The following short video from worldfocus was published in February, 2009, but is as relevant today as ever. Prioritizing ecological restoration and supporting environmentally sound infrastructure and development projects will be critical if the country’s long term recovery efforts are to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters such as the earthquake on January 12, 2010, or the hurricanes and tropical storms of August-September 2008. Read More
Weekly gRound-Up: 1/17/2010
This week, we wanted to focus the gRound-up on the earthquake disaster in Haiti, highlighting some articles that discuss the underlying environmental issues there. Deforestation in Haiti This video report by the New York Times shows how the cycle of deforestation and poverty is perpetuated Haiti. How to rebuild Haiti Jeffery Sachs, director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, writes in the Washington Post on how basic infrastructure can... Read More
Building Practices in Port-au-Prince
The following photos were taken during a March 2009 field assignment in Haiti. The purpose of that trip was to conduct a post-disaster environmental needs assessment following the 2008 hurricane season. This gallery offers some images of what Port-au-Prince looked like at that time, and provides a visual context for the sort of building construction and materials that made the city so vulnerable to the January 12 earthquake. It also offers a brief... Read More
Port-au-Prince, Haiti: An Environmental Catastrophe
A view of the dwellings that fill the hills surrounding Port-au-Prince (Scott MacKenzie, March 2009) At 4:53 p.m on January 12th a 7.0-magnitude earthquake centered just 10 miles west of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince violently shook and toppled an already dire situation there. Reports coming out of Port-au-Prince are that the city has been largely destroyed. Hospitals, schools, government buildings, UN’s MINUSTAH headquarters, and homes... Read More
