Hallo eco-aware viewers and welcome to Planet Earth: Our Loving Home. Today in the first of a two-part series, we focus on the devastating effects of floods on people and our planet.

Floods occur when enormous amounts of water partially or fully inundate land surfaces through such events as excessively heavy rainfalls, cyclones, tsunamis, storm surges, icesheet and glacier melting, and so on. Experiencing a serious flood can be a truly terrifying experience, as conditions are ever-changing and uncertain.

Is it safe to drive through a flooded street? Can one walk through the high waters and not encounter dangerous sharp objects or worse, lose footing and be swept away by the swift currents? Will people be able to survive the time without access to clean water and food?

In its numerous reports, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has observed that around the world there have been widespread increases in heavy rainfall events, even in places where the total amount of rain received annually has been decreasing.

Prominent scientists everywhere point to global warming as the reason for this worrisome phenomenon. Climate change researchers have found that animal agriculture is overwhelmingly responsible for the warming of our planet. This harmful activity releases immense quantities of lethal greenhouse gases and the industry is also the primary cause of the majority of the world’s deforestation and land degradation.

The alterations to the planet’s atmosphere and land surfaces from livestock raising have wreaked havoc on the natural interactions between ecosystems and the hydrological cycle.

Climate models cited in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports project that deleterious human actions such as factory farming which elevate the amount of greenhouse gases in the air will mean a continual upward trend in the number of violent weather events in many parts of the world, including those marked by excessively heavy precipitation.

Rising sea levels caused by climate change worsen the effect of storm surges and other similar weather extremes in coastal areas by increasing the chances that an inundation will occur. What's more, in the past 30 years over 2.8 billion people have been affected by floods worldwide, with over 95% of them residing in Asia.

Last year hydrological disasters were the most frequent type of natural disaster comprising over 53% of all such events globally. Of the 180 reported hydrological disasters worldwide, 149 were floods and 31 were wet mass movements like landslides, with over 57.3 million victims. Compared to 2008, the number of persons affected increased by 27.4%. The continent with the largest occurrence of floods in 2009 was Asia.

ASIA

From July 11 to 17, 2009 unusual torrential rains hit Sichuan and Hunan provinces and Chongqing Municipality in China, triggered frightening floods and landslides. Nearly two million people were affected, and at least 17 perished.

On July 25, 2009 seven cities and other parts of Hunan were flooded, affecting 1.3 million people, with at least 12 fatalities, 3,200 homes collapsed and 14,000 others damaged.

Typhoon Morakot struck Formosa (Taiwan) on August 7 and 8, 2009 triggering severe floods and landslides. Many roads and bridges were swept away, stranding thousands in places like remote mountain villages. At least 121 people perished, 45 were injured and more than 50,000 troops worked to rescue some 15,000 stranded persons.

Floods deeply impact families, homes and livelihoods. Widespread crop damage caused by flooding can have an immensely negative effect on a nation’s ability to feed itself, and injures social welfare and a country’s economy.

In September 2009 high tides flooded the Mekong Delta regions in Âu Lạc (Vietnam). Thousands of hectares of vegetable crops were submerged in salt water in the provinces of Cà Mau, Kiên Giang and An Giang along with buildings that were flooded in the region’s largest city of Cần Thơ.

Landslides also occurred in many sections of Cà Mau’s eastern coastline as well as along 40 meters of levees in An Giang province, with trees that were swept away by huge wave surges. Losses endured by the region in 2008 due to climate change resulted in over 100 fatalities and damage to more than 30,000 hectares of rice fields.

Incessant downpours triggered floods from August 19 through August 21, 2009 and affected hundreds of villages in eastern Nepal’s Jhapa district. Eight people lost their lives, and over 6,000 families were displaced as hundreds of homes were damaged or swept away and over 1,000 hectares of crops were destroyed.

Unusual rains in early September 2009 triggered floods in Laghman and Nangarhar provinces of eastern Afghanistan. At least 15 perished and several hundred homes, agricultural land and fruit trees suffered damage.

Numerous makeshift shelters in and around the Somali capital of Mogadishu were swept away in late October 2009 after two days of downpours triggered flash floods. Thousands of persons displaced by civil war lost everything and were foodless. Some 6,000 families, or 36,000 people, in the southern coastal city of Kismayo faced similar conditions, making them vulnerable to mosquitoes and rain.

When we return, we will continue our examination of the ruinous effects of climate change-induced flooding. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

This is Planet Earth: Our Loving Home on Supreme Master Television where we are focusing on the disturbing trend of increased flooding worldwide due to climate change. Major floods can devastate infrastructure, thereby hampering rescue efforts and the delivery of much needed aid to those caught in the rising waters.

In late December 2009 Lebanon struggled through floods and disruption. Heavy rainfalls and high winds caused widespread flooding across Lebanon, particularly in the Beirut and Mount Lebanon regions.

Extreme traffic congestion was noted as roads became impassable due to high waters or landslides. Some schools were also evacuated as the water found its way into buildings. Government ministries and other agencies worked fervently together to bring relief to the affected.

Torrential rains in September 2009 caused loss of life for two people in the Mexican capital of Mexico City as heavy rainfall flooded 20 neighborhoods and city officials evacuated 1,500 people from their homes. Four subway stations also became inoperable due to flooding, and cars on some streets were found floating in up to one and a half meters of water.

Floods surprised Australian residents in mid-January 2010. In what is normally a dry central region, torrential rains caused stranding of hotel visitors as well as closure of highways and rail service. A family of five was found and rescued via helicopter several days after they had tried to drive through the floodwaters.

Devastating deluges can mean the fast spread of water borne diseases. In tropical and sub-tropical regions across the globe dengue fever threatens the lives of flood victims. It is transmitted by mosquitoes that reproduce quickly in pools of standing water. Dengue fever is marked by high fever, vomiting, rashes, nausea and other serious symptoms and there is no known treatment.

The World Health Organization estimates that annually 50 million people are infected worldwide. Malaria, another disease transmitted by mosquitos, is also of serious concern following flooding. One million children in Africa died in 2008 due to this disease. In addition, diarrhea which can be fatal to very young children, can occur if water supplies become contaminated by the flood waters.

THE MIDDLE EAST

On Wednesday, November 25, 2009 some of the worst rains in years caused flooding in the western port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. At least 48 people perished and 900 had to be rescued from stranding as buildings and vehicles were submerged in several meters of floodwaters.

Downpours also struck the holy city of Mecca, where some 2 million Muslim pilgrims were on the annual hajj pilgrimage at the time. More than 70 of the flood victims contracted the swine flu virus, with four succumbing to the illness.

In October 2009, Kenya was overcome by unexpected floods due to heavy El Niño rains, causing at least two fatalities and displacing 500 families in the coastal Magarini District as homes and vast fields of crops were destroyed.

Following the disaster, affected resident Jillo Galgalo stated, “Most pit latrines have been washed away because nobody expected any floods to occur this soon. We are in dire need of clean water because most water points are now filled with all sorts of waste, including human waste and cow dung.”

Another heartbreaking reality is that animals, like humans, also fall victim to unrelenting downpours and floods. Animal companions may be left behind in homes with no food or water in the rush to evacuate. If there is no higher ground, animals living in fields such as horses may have nowhere to turn with rising flood waters.

Heavy monsoon rains that began in early July 2009 triggered a flood in the Barpeta District of Assam, India, causing people and animals to perish, with over half a million villagers affected as many lost their bamboo homes.

On September 21, 2009 the southeastern US state of Georgia was inundated by downpours, causing creeks and rivers to burst their banks. At least 10 people and four canine companions lost their lives as metro Atlanta and surrounding areas were flooded, forcing hundreds to evacuate their homes. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine estimated US$500 million in losses were incurred in the region and over 20,000 homes and buildings were substantially damaged.

The floods that we have recapped today are just a small fraction of these climate-change induced events that have occurred recently. While endeavors to forecast floods to prevent loss of life and property are becoming more fine-tuned, and though emergency responders give their utmost to safeguard their communities, truly the best way to save precious lives from future natural disasters is to prevent them in the first place.

The key step for all to take right now is the adoption of the eco-conscious organic vegan diet which will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, end deforestation, restore habitats and quickly end climate change. Our planet’s weather patterns will again stabilize and flooding will no longer be a concern.

Earth-wise viewers, thank you for your company on today’s program. Please join us next Wednesday on Planet Earth: Our Loving Home for part two of our program on floods. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment after Noteworthy News. May all lives be filled with heavenly bliss and abundant love.

Welcome, eco-conscious viewers, to Planet Earth: Our Loving Home. Today we present the second episode in our two-part series on the catastrophic impact of floods on humankind and our planet.

Floods occur when enormous amounts of water inundate land surfaces through such events as excessively heavy rainfalls, cyclones, tsunamis, storm surges, melting of icesheets and glaciers, and so on.

In its numerous reports, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has observed there have been widespread increases in sudden heavy rainfall events around the world, even in places where the total amount of rain received annually has been decreasing. Prominent scientists everywhere point to global warming as the reason for this worrisome phenomenon.

Climate change researchers have found that animal agriculture is overwhelmingly responsible for the warming of our planet. This harmful activity releases immense quantities of lethal greenhouse gases and the industry is also the primary cause of the majority of the world’s deforestation and land degradation. The alterations to the planet’s atmosphere and land surfaces from livestock raising have wreaked havoc on the natural interactions between ecosystems and the hydrological cycle.

Thus far in 2010, floods have caused grievous suffering to humans and animals, as well as utter devastation to property, crops and the environment. During this period, China has been the most severely flood-affected nation in the world.

CHINA APRIL 2010

Floods occurred on Friday, April 17th in Altay City of Alakak County affecting over 500 homes, blocking roads and damaging property. In southeastern Jiangxi Province, the rainy season arrived half a month early, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate as torrential precipitation drenched 45 counties.

Central China’s Hunan province was inundated with an average rainfall of 112 millimeters for a week beginning on April 17th, causing the Xiang River to rise by up to six meters, with nearly 300 embankment breaches reported. Officials said that the resulting floods claimed one life in a landslide and caused property loss for more than 900,000 people as the waters swept through 27 counties, collapsing at least 4,600 homes and submerging nearly 40,000 hectares of farmland.

MAY 2010

Starting on the evening of May 5, forceful rain, hail, winds, and a rare tornado with gusts of up to 112 kilometers-per-hour impacted the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Hunan. The storms set off mud-rock slides and flash floods and threatened to breach reservoirs as water levels in rivers swelled and burst levees.

According to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters 2.55-million residents were affected with nearly 10,000 homes flattened and 100,000 hectares of arable land ruined. The central government allocated US$4.5 million to help with recovery efforts in Chongqing Municipality, where 31 fatalities were reported.

Torrential precipitation on May 31st flooded 27 counties in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, causing landslides. More than 80,000 evacuated as thousands of homes and nearly 78,000 hectares of crops were devastated.

JUNE 2010

The Chinese government reported on Saturday, June 12th that abnormally heavy seasonal flooding across 21 provinces caused at least 155 fatalities, with 1.3 million people uprooted as 140,000 homes collapsed and two million hectares of crops were affected. As of Friday, June 11th, direct economic losses had reached US$6.5 billion, an amount nearly four times higher than in the previous year.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, 199 people had succumbed since mid-June to the relentless rains and floods that swept through 10 southern provinces, with 123 still missing as of Tuesday, June 22nd. The extreme weather affected over 29 million people, with 2.37 million displaced after 195,000 homes were destroyed and 568,000 were damaged.

At the end of June, heavy rain throughout southern China caused hundreds to perish. In Jiangxi province, at least 100,000 people residing along the Fu River were left to rely on aid after the Changkai levee was ruined amidst the region’s worst floods in a century.

Many of my seedlings were drowned, which means I won’t have any crop harvest this year. This used to be the main road in the village which led to the levee. After it was broken, all the water flowed in our direction along the road. Now some parts of this road are filled with sand. Here, for example, where it is lower, it is also submerged and cars can’t drive through.

I am standing at the site of the levee breach in Changkai Township, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi, which is the most severely damaged area. Hallo, can you tell us about the situation at the time of the flooding?

At that time, we had four or five successive days of rain, with daily accumulated rainfall amounting to over 100 millimeters. This is the site where the levee broke. This is the Fu River. The soldiers have helped to evacuate 100,000 people away from here.

When we return, we’ll continue our review of destructive climate change-induced floods that have occurred thus far in 2010. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

This is Planet Earth: Our Loving Home on Supreme Master Television, where we’re featuring part two of our presentation on the severe effects of floods on humanity and the environment. The colossal damage and pain caused by the floods during 2010 have profoundly affected the Chinese people. The nation joined together in August to honor some of those who were casualties of natural disasters.

On Sunday, August 15, Chinese leaders, students, workers and overseas nationals honored 1248 brethren who had lost their lives as well as the some 500 still missing from the recent massive mudslides and floods in Zhouqu County of northwest China's Gansu province.

In Beijing, President Hu Jintao led top Chinese government officials in a three-minute silent tribute, while more than 5000 rescuers and villagers stood on the mudslide debris at Dongjie Village in Zhouqu, and approximately 10,000 gathered at a city square in Lazhou. All entertainment activities were also suspended across the country as part of the commemoration.

Other areas of the world have also experienced relentless, frightening floods in 2010, with an enormous toll taken on families, homes, livelihoods, crops and animals.

COLOMBIA May 2010

At least 18 people died and 87 were injured when waves of torrential rains pummeled southern Colombia at the end of May. Floods and landslides uprooted thousands across 134 municipalities as 15,000 homes were damaged.

We completely lost all that was in our homes and lost everything, completely all, because of the mud... We suffer because we don’t sleep, we don’t eat in peace.

The biggest thing, the boy is lost … the rest of it, well, you get it anyway. And I thank you so much that you do not leave us so helpless like this. And thank you.

INDIA July 2010

At the beginning of July, two people lost their lives and over 200,000 were displaced throughout 400 villages as floods massively disrupted the state of Assam, India. Thunderstorms smashed homes, and uprooted trees and electric and telephone poles. The region’s Kaziranga National Park has also been deluged by the swollen Brahmaputra River, forcing scores of already endangered animals, including rhinos and elephants, to retreat to nearby hills for safety.

YEMEN July 2010

At least 30 people succumbed to days of continuous rainfall that resulted in flooding and landslides across Yemen’s northwestern regions on Wednesday, July 14th.

Seven perished when a vehicle was swept away in the Mashanna district of Ibb province, while a rock slide in Dhamar province collapsed a dam, leading to flooding that took five lives and injured four others, while submerging a health center, farms and roads. Floods caused fatalities in two refugee camps, where some 200 families were displaced, while in the capital Sana’a, roads were blocked by rising waters that also flowed into residents’ homes.

POLAND/GERMANY/ CZECH REPUBLIC AUGUST 2010

At least 14 people died after torrential rains triggered inundations in the border regions of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic on Saturday, August 7th. Several towns and villages were completely isolated, while homes, cars, and bridges were destroyed, with thousands more houses losing electricity.

In northern Czech Republic, at least 1,000 people were evacuated, including residents in areas below two dams that threatened to burst as water levels rose, as well as three summer camps.

In the towns of Chrastava and Frýdlant, police and military helicopters saved people stranded on the roofs of their homes. Hundreds of German and Czech firefighters worked side-by-side to lessen water levels submerging a major international railway line connecting Prague, the Czech Republic and Berlin, Germany.

Meanwhile in Poland, another 2,000 people were evacuated by firefighters via boats, assisted by emergency workers from neighboring Germany as the southwestern town of Bogatynia was inundated following the overflowing of the Miedzianka River, which destroyed several homes and displaced 700 people.

ETHIOPIA AUGUST 2010

As flooding swept through Ethiopia’s north-central Amhara Region, 19 people were reported to have lost their lives on Wednesday, August 25th, with nearly 9,000 evacuated to safer ground. The floods followed over a month of unusually heavy rains, which also submerged or washed away more than 6,000 hectares of crops.

Three lowland districts were especially affected as rivers swelled in the hills of Oromiya zone, and over 53,000 households in five other zones were affected. Regional governments and aid agencies such as the United Nations World Food Program and World Vision assisted with shelter and emergency aid, while extended family members also offered their care.

While many praiseworthy efforts are made by governments and non-governmental organizations around the world to save people’s lives and provide them with immediate assistance, provisions and care, the one sure thing that can help prevent all these unforgiving catastrophes is the harmonious, compassionate, organic vegan diet. Supreme Master Ching Hai often conveys this simple message to the world.

My heart is troubled every day, thinking of all these innocent people and all the defenseless animals who have to suffer in this great upheaval we call climate change. But we still have time.

We could not reverse the effect of climate change in the past. Whatever happened due to typhoons and floods and earthquakes, etc., we could not reverse the effect. But we could stop future disasters by returning to the compassionate vegetarian diet and encouraging others to do the same. The government has the power to do this. I beg all the governments of the world, please, do this before it’s too late, for the sake of your citizens and your own children as well.

Thank you, caring viewers, for joining us on today’s program. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment after Noteworthy News. May we soon have a world full of bliss and tranquility.