Not all disasters have natural causes; some are – at least partly – man-made. Among these I count to a certain degree landslides, loss of topsoil, flooding, drought, etc. Here are some examples:

1. Due to population pressure, many communities try to create more land for food production by removing trees on mostly marginal land on slopes. The result of this activity is often that the ground here becomes unstable and can suddenly slide down during a longer rain period. Or heavy rain can at least wash down the remaining topsoil.

2. Cutting down trees on slopes for commercial purposes has the same effect as soon as the tree stumps have rotted or be removed by land-hungry people.

3.  Land-hungry farmers and graziers removed huge numbers of trees in the past, far more than necessary, with the effect that the climate in these regions has often become harsher with higher temperature fluctuations, stronger wind and more severe droughts. Cattle or sheep in hot climates endure unnecessary stress, when they cannot find shade any more because of missing trees.

4. The topsoil of natural grassland like savannah or prairie, once ploughed and converted to fields, is basically more vulnerable to the elements. E.g. strong wind during a drought can remove many millions of tons of fertile topsoil from a certain region and in relatively short time, lost forever!

5. Global warming, currently mainly a man-made phenomenon, is believed to contribute to the power of bush fires, of wild storms like cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes (basically the same, depending on the region) and other natural disasters.

Many mistakes have been made, thereby inadvertendly causing a large number of man-made disasters, often due to greed and ignorance, sometimes even supported by governments, meaning well but not considering the consequences. 

The good news is that these blunders are – at least partly – reversible (as I believe), and in the following I will briefly suggest some ideas and concepts to this matter. I would be happy to help anybody with providing more ideas and concepts including preparing a detailed plan as described on my web page World Problems .

Ideas and concepts for solving the problem

1. Stabilize slopes again

Communities near slopes vulnerable to land slides should be advised and financially supported to plant trees and maintain them till they are grown. Larger slopes can be divided into parcels and the parcels be given to single families as incentives. A further incentive would be allowing the locals to plant fruit trees where suitable, so they may harvest them for a profit. For speeding up the process, they should get free fertilizers in the beginning.

2. Plant rows of hedges around fields

These rows can be a mixture of high trees and shrubs, about 20 yards (or ~20m) wide, enclosing fields of perhaps 400m (~ a quarter mile) x 400m or less, the size of the fields depending on the kind of crop and enough room for the seeding and harvesting machinery. The advantages of such fields would be lower wind speed, less loss of topsoil, better climate, less pesticides needed, if at all (because of the many birds acting as biological weapon by eating the insects). The land for the hedges would occupy only about 10% or a bit more of the whole area but may increase the value of the land and the harvest considerably. - For planning and establishing such kinds of hedges, ecological experts should be involved.
Please note that pesticides can also kill honey bees, which not only make honey but also pollinate more than 90% of certain crops. Without honey bees there wouldn't be a harvest of such crops!

3. Let rivers run their natural course

The cause for sudden and relatively high floods is often the fact that river courses were straightened in the past. Flooding can be mitigated by giving rivers their original meander course back, where practical, and by keeping some flood plains open. In addition, wetlands should be provided where possible, in order to further balance the water supply.

4. Let locals plant trees

This would be a similar concept as for planting trees on slopes, only for larger areas. Suitable native trees should be chosen and communities then also be paid for planting and maintaining the trees as long as needed. Larger forests have a balancing effect on wet and dry weather, due to the fact that trees with their roots keep rainwater longer in the ground and only slowly release it by evaporation, mostly through their leaves. This keeps the whole climate cooler in the area and the air above it more saturated with moisture, alleviating the severity of a drought.

5. Fight bush fires more effectively

There are large wilderness areas with forests in the US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere, vulnerable to devastating bushfires, particularly in the hot and dry summer months. Extinguishing fire in the beginning before it spreads is most important, therefore early detection and quick reaction with sufficient fire-fighting resources is crucial. Here are some ideas in brief how to do it more effectively:

1.      Provide satellites in ‘stationery’ positions (about 20,000 miles or 36,000 above the equator) and equip them with high quality infrared cameras, continually watching the vulnerable forests and instantly alerting the responsible fire fighting authorities with information about the exact fire location (with computer help).

2.      Alternatively, satellites in lower orbits could probably do the same job in numbers, if their view sections slightly overlap.

3.      Provide new or change current fire trails as pastures for free lease to farmers for grazing their cattle. The farmers would be responsible for proper maintenance of the pastures, keeping the grass short and preventing regrowth of trees and shrubs here. The fire trails should be sufficient in width, perhaps about 100-200 yd. or ~100-200m wide and about 2 miles or 3-4km apart.

4.      Trees along fire trails should be treated accordingly (e.g. by spraying them with certain fluids) to make them less inflammable, if this is possible.

5.      Introduce beavers in suitable locations along creeks and smaller rivers for creating ponds as additional water sources for fire fighting.

6.   Permit by law only self-extinguishing cigarettes to be sold, in order to
      prevent fires arising from thrown away butts, still glowing.
     
I believe there should be a central fire fighting authority for the whole country (where not yet existing) for making quick decisions and for providing sufficient equipment including enough airplanes and helicopters in crucial areas for a fast response to fire outbreaks.

 
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