A study by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters finds that between 1980 and 2007, nearly 8,400 natural disasters killed more than two million people.
Given the current Gulf of Mexico oil-spill disaster it's easy to become cynical and imagine the fragile terrestrial worlds of the solar systems being ravaged for greed and profit.
Obviously, there's a tremendous difference between getting rid of possessions and losing them through a natural disaster without having a say in the matter.
Prices fluctuate, in response to harvests, natural disasters and political instability; and when they rise, it takes some time before new sources of supply become available.
The World Meteorological Organization points to Cuba and Bangladesh as examples of countries that have successfully reduced the loss of life caused by natural disasters by taking preventive action.