The Crisis in Haiti, 2010: What’s to be done?

The current crisis in Haiti is an overwhelming example of the devastation, suffering, and death that can occur when the earth's tectonic plates are on the move in an overcrowded country. It is no surprise that the destruction was so widespread. It is as expected, given our current international situation. In fact, it is hard to envision the horrific suffering that is occurring and will continue to occur for many years to come, just from this singular event. Many countries and organizations have responded with humanitarian aid that is difficult to deliver when infrastructure in the form of highways, airports, and communications are non-functional. Food, shelter, potable water, public health, and security infrastructure are not easy to provide to a large population. What can we and all countries of the world learn from such a catastrophic event? Catastrophic earthquakes can be predicted only generally, not precisely, as to when and where they will occur; their magnitudes are also frequently dubious. We know they will occur over and over again in the future because of the tectonic shift of plates will continue. We also know that delivering humanitarian aid has to be immediate, well-organized, and coordinated to be effective, and it requires national and international cooperation. Not all countries have shipping, airlift capabilities, and the funds to provide humanitarian aid to other countries. The task thus falls to the more affluent countries, the United Nations, and humanitarian organizations that can deliver aid as rapidly and as well-organized as possible. These are the groups that can deal with suffering at the sites of the crisis. If humans have a purpose on this planet, it is certainly to help others. What else can we learn from this one singular catastrophic event in one of the poorest countries in the world? Most importantly, we can reflect on our future reality. Our singular common biosphere is going to experience many devastating earthquakes since the earth's plates are always on the move and as our population continues to grow, so does the devastation and potential suffering resulting from any such event. Furthermore, the degree of suffering will increase at least by the degree of increase of the human population and maybe much more. Following such an event, a disease outbreak and even a pandemic could arise, another obvious consequence of overpopulation. But why do we need such reminders? We know that over 1 billion people currently do not have the Water Air Soil Pollut (2010) 212:1–2 DOI 10.1007/s11270-010-0338-8