Thailand's 2011 Flood: A Repeated Catastrophe?

Flooding have always been an ordeal that have plagued the world for milleniums, from the constantly overflowing Huang He to the flash-floods in Bangladesh, flooding became one of the inevitable elements of life in many parts of the world. Asia, is one of them. Here in South East Asia, flooding is considered normal as farmers relied on massive rainfall to plant rice, which ironically requires ankle deep water to flourish. However, sometimes nature just simply delivered too much of what we needed, in certain years precipitation had rose beyond the capacities of dams and levees, causing water to flood fields and urban areas, which indeed is not a pleasant experience. Thailand is currently experiencing a flood beyond anyone's expectations, which is paradoxically preceded by last year's droughts. Cities such as Ayuthaya sank beneath the waves along with multimillion dollar investments. Currently, the water had reached Thailand's capitol, Bangkok, as Thailand would be doomed to years of regression and poverty once again.

How does this happen?

This massive flooding started from unexpected high precipitation and poor water management. Normally, dams and levees would often prevent, or at least suppresses the flooding, however, in the event of this flood, the government had left the Bhumibol Dam with water filled to the brim, preparing for the drought, however, it is the opposite. When the untold precipitation came, the officers would attempt to release as much water into rivers to capture the water, but sadly, they were too late. The dam was filled beyond its capacity, so in order to save the dam from bursting, the officers had no choice but to release the water all at once, causing over ten billion cubic meters of water to flood the entire region. Over 20 provinces in Thailand was affected and if the government had known better, this would have been a typical, harmless annual flooding.

Are we used to this?

Certainly, Thais are seared with the memories of flooding that continues to appear in frequently in Thai culture and history. Houses built on stilts are made for this purpose, to raise the household beyond the waves. This traditional design had been used for centuries and still appear in rural parts of Thailand. In addition to the iconic stilt houses, flooding also saved the Thai Kingdom of Ayuthaya from a Burmese invasion led by King Tbengsweti during the reign of Phra Maha Chakrabhat of the Supannabhumi dynasty where Burmese had laid a siege on the bastions of Ayuthaya, and was forced to retreat due to the flooding. In the contemporary era, in 1942, Bangkok experienced a similar flood during General Phiboonsongkram's military junta which row boats are a common sight in the streets. In the year 1995, Thailand was also affected with a flooding in a scale similar to the current, two years before the radical "Tom Yum Koong" economical crisis in 1997.

Flooding had plagued Thailand since the ancient time and will continue to do so. With the factors of Global Warming in play, flooding would only grow stronger. Nevertheless, with the limitless potential of the human mind, flooding could be prevented.

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LEAD: Floods subside in central plains but persist in Bangkok

                                     
                                      A video on the 1942 flood in Bangkok, from YouTube

Russia: A Declining Population?

Russia is a staggering name indeed. It is the largest nation in the world with a history of bitter conflicts and was once the proud Soviet Union, that plagued the world with the "Red Fear". Now, after the disintegration of the USSR, modern Russia emerges from the ramshackle communist regime to a capitalist economy, a promise of a brighter future for the new Russian Federation. However, the population of Russia displayed the opposite, is the Russian population in decline?

The current population of Russia hover around 140 million, with only 8 people living per square kilometer, making it one of the world's most sparsely populated nation. Yet, the civilization thrived in the Western region where cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg shelters around 70% of the population. Since the time Michael Romanov re-united Russia, the population had witnessed a slow, yet steady increase. Russia soldiers on to the 19th century with the advent of the industrial revolution, however, with feudal aristocracy and poverty, the population tends to be similar to those of the third world countries which resembles stage 2 of the Demographic Transition Model. In 1917, the prominent Russian Revolution took place, which brought down the monarchy along with the archaic system of serfdom, replacing it with Communism. From then on, the living condition improves for the Russians and its population began to experience a promising increase. With Stalin's five-year plan, the Russian economy improved during the early 20th century as Russia finally became "industrialized".

In the contemporary era, the Russian population ascends until 1991, which bears the population of 148 million, just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. From then on, the population slowly decreases from its pinnacle in 1991.

Currently Russia's position in the Demographic Transition Model is at stage four, which its figure resembles the iconic hourglass, which this evidence does not only indicate the population's stance, but also the nation's development. Russia could be considered a developed nation in a way, according to the population pyramid shown below, the age group between 14-60, the working age, is significantly higher than other age group indicating low dependency ratio, which one could imply that the country with greater population in the working age would have more production yield, therefore, resulting in a country's advanced development. Thus, with less people depending on each other (0-14, 65+) the population would be likely to transit into the "aging population" where the population pyranmid tends to shrink in younger age groups, similar to developed countries such as Japan. Modern medical care and education clearly causes Russia's birthrate and death rate to decrease. Now, the death rate of Russia is (14 per 1000) surpasses the birthrate (12.5 per 1000), which ultimately results in the populations fall, because there isn't enough birth to compensate for the high annual deaths. Many would question the cause of the staggering death rates, some say its the Russian's lust for alcohol, the Vodka, containing over 30% of alcohol in volume, which results in the lower men life expectance or the harsh unforgiving winters.

In contrast to the world's increasing population racing to the 7 billion line, Russia represents the very opposite, a declining population.

The current population pyramid of Russia, from the US Census Bureau (www.census.gov)

10 Most Important Things to Consider on Population Before It's Too Late

10) The world is experiencing an exponential growth in population in third world countries


9) Fertility rates contribute to the growth of population: beliefs, government policies and culture contributes in an areas fertility rate.


8) In history, prominent figures such as Thomas Mathus and Herve le Bras had foreseen overpopulation and made pessimistic hypothesis on this matter, stating that the world cannot support the ever growing human population.


7) It is an inevitable fact that the amount of middle class would increase in 2030, causing an massive increase of consumption, however, people can start to preserve the earth before it happens


6) In the past century, most of the worlds developed and developing population transits to rising state in the demographic transition model, causing population to increase, consuming the world's resources.


5) Overpopulation could result in war, genocide, disease, pollution, depletion of resources and illiteracy, which could cause even more overpopulation!


4) Despite the falling birthrates, population would still increase, building on the existing population


3) How we consume resources poses more of a threat than overpopulation because developed nations tend to consume excessively, whereas third world countries, who has more population, consumed a mere portion of it. Therefore, to preserve resources, it is up to the people to leave smaller footprints so future generation could thrive.


2) When woman is educated, they are likely to have less children causing a decreased birthrate


1)According the Thomas Malthus, population will increase exponentially, more then the resources on earth can support