Fatal Volcanic Tragedy Hits Sumatra: Motivates Non-Profits

 By Connor Oglesby
on The Red Cross:

                                                                 

Tragedy struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra late Thursday, as a violent volcanic eruption more powerful than that of Mt. St. Helens resulted in 40,000 immediate casualties. The destruction has sparked the interest in many lobbyist groups including the Red Cross and Amnesty International, both of which have already eagerly pledged humanitarian aid to the developing country.

When interviewed, the Red Cross predicted immediate casualties as high as 300,000 due to strong aftershocks and tsunamis. Accordingly, in the two groups' joint effort they have agreed to provide food, water purification tablets and a large influx of doctors to be readily available on site on Sumatra via the support of US Naval ships. Additionally,
the groups plan on contacting many philanthropic organizations to provide any help available. In a statement from Amnesty earlier today, the organization spoke of their admiration of the Red Cross, and are "really along to insure that the affected Sumatrans are able to flex their right to an enjoyable, long life."

Aside from human disaster, the volcanic explosion is projected to have a lasting negative impression on the environment. The excessive amount of ash released from the volcano will create a "sun shade" effect that will literally block out substantial amounts of UV rays, dropping the average temperature world wide. An event like this could contribute to year long winters, crop failure and epidemic - a problem that would easily hit home to America through higher energy costs, higher grocery prices and significantly more American deaths.

GreenPeace, a non profit-based around saving the environment, was not available for immediate comment on the disaster. It is understood they will take the drastic and necessary measures needed to reverse as much of the damage as possible.