Limiting the Effects of Natural Disasters

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Limiting the Effects of Natural Disasters
Brig. Gen. John J. Kelly, Jr., U.S. Air Force
(Ret.) Deputy Under Secretary for Oceans and
Atmosphere January 17, 2006
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Mudslides and Flooding
Venezuela's worst natural disaster in a century
killed over 20,000 people, December 15-20,
1999 Caused over 2 billion in damage
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Flooding
Greatest flooding in 500 years hit Argentina's
north-central region in April and May, 2003 Over
20 deaths and more than 100,000 people
displaced 1 billion in damage Cost to Santa Fe
farmers about 200 million
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Drought
Brazil's worst drought in 40 years is affecting
hundreds of thousands of people across 7
states Severely damaging world's largest
rainforest Fresh, clean drinking water becoming
scarce Millions of fish dying
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September 28, 2005
Wildfires
Brazil's drought brings intense wildfires
July 24, 2005
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Severe Winds
Hurricane force winds destroyed infrastructure in
Montevideo and several departments on August 23,
2005 10 people died Nearly 1,000 families had
no drinking water Thousands of homes damaged
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Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
(GOES)
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Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
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60 countries, European Commission 43 global
organizations
Algeria Argentina Australia Belgium Belize Brazil
Cameroon Canada Central African
Republic Chile China Croatia Cyprus Denmark Egypt
Finland France Germany Greece Guinea-Bissau
Honduras Iceland India Indonesia Iran Ireland Isra
el Italy Japan Kazakhstan Luxembourg Malaysia Mali
Mauritius Mexico Morocco Nepal Netherlands New
Zealand Niger Nigeria
Norway Philippines Portugal Republic of
Korea Republic of the Congo Russian
Federation Slovak Republic Slovenia South
Africa Spain Sudan Sweden Switzerland Thailand Tun
isia Ukraine United Kingdom United
States Uzbekistan

www.earthobservations.org
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The goal is to access and provide the right
information, in the right format, at the right
time, to the right people, to make the right
decisions.