Supervisors info:
Αντωνιάδης Κωνσταντίνος, Γεωλόγος - Περιβαλλοντολόγος M.Sc. University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
Ειδικός Επιστήμονας - Συνήγορος του Πολίτη, Κύκλος Ποιότητας Ζωής
Summary:
Human societies have always suffered from natural disasters. Since ancient times, people have been unable to cope with these disasters, and history is full of events and references on natural disasters that have led to the destruction of entire civilizations. For this reason, modern societies and administrations have set as a primary objective the creation and organization of up to date civil protection units in order to “defend” the human environment from natural and technological disasters. In addition they invest significant amounts of money for the equipment and training of these units so that they can respond directly and effectively following a disaster and thus mitigate the consequences.
The way natural resources are exploited, together with the way cities are deployed and operated, have caused significant environmental problems for the planet. In fact, according to Antoniades (2017), the anthropogenic environment includes, not only the settlements, the cities and areas where intensive human activity is being practiced, but also the natural areas created and controlled by man such as cultivated forests, artificial lakes , arranged rivers, landscaped beaches. Therefore, a very large part of the Earth is broadly "anthropogenic". This makes man more vulnerable, since any change in each of the above areas directly affects him.
The Armed Forces, whose basic mission is to defend national independence and to ensure the integrity of Greece, play an important role in protecting the environment by being pro-active during their operation and participating in “cleanup” activities when environmental disasters occur. They also assist by offering their services to deal with large-scale disasters, research and rescue as well in restoration projects. Global awareness about the development of eco-consciousness has highlighted environmental protection as a priority for the Armed Forces. In time of peace, the Armed Forces’ mission is carried out through staff training, material maintenance and the preservation of a well-functioning internal service.
Protecting the environment by all means is no longer romantic. It is necessary. For this, Armed Forces can play a decisive role. Thus, this study will present the role of armed forces for the protection of societies from environmental disasters, the types of natural disasters and how they affect society, as well as the institutional framework that the state has set up and the mechanisms it has set up to address and mitigate their impacts.
Keywords:
natural disaster, Natech, disaster management, civil protection, armed forces
