lauriandres
Well-Known Member
Quite frankly I do not understand why places like Puerto Rico, and even New Orleans, are populated at all in the modern world. We know these things are going to happen. Storms of this magnitude are common in this region, and have been for hundreds of years of these cities being populated (go look at storm statistics from the 30's, easily as bad as anything recent). People know that N.O. is below sea level, and that another freak storm would wipe it out, yet again, but they stay there. Seriously there is so much land in the US they could literally drop P.R. into the middle of even like freaking Kansas and not make a blip on the radar. I think it is monumentally stupid that people continue to live in disaster alley, then get all outraged when the rest of us don't jump up and come running when the inevitable happens and costs EVERYONE billions to fix it, so they can rebuild with money that is not their own but siphoned off from everyone else as we subsidize increased prices and insurance rates and tax money that could go for actually improving quality of life, etc. then repeat and recycle in a few years.
/end rant
Why there are more people living in Africa or southern Europe than in Estonia?

Some reasons (purely IMHO):
1. It is much harder to survive if you have to face 4 different season and you can grow food in only one of them. Of course, hunting and fishing help save the day even in winter, but it is difficult.
2. I think that historically people have tried to live in climate that is easier to the current one. If you wanted to have good life in Estonia 100 years ago - you had built a proper house for living that provides shelter when the temperature is -30 degrees celsius. You had to built a second storage house to keep the food that you harvested in august-september-october and you had to calculate that you survive 9 months with that food. Of course, fishing and hunting is possible in winter too, but that required above average skills (how to make a fishing net, boat, how to catch a wild animal). For comparison - in southern Italy the minimum temperature is probably +15 degrees in winter; you might get bigger amount of crops between march and november. Even seafood is larger and in bigger quantities thanks to a warmer sea. Of course, because of better conditions, history has shown that the competition and therefore human casualties from the ancient times until today are much higher.
3. I suspect that the basic handycraft skills are therefore lower in those countries. For example, most of the houses in my neighbourhood and countryside are built by ordinary guys, not by specific companies. For example, typical private houses, where i live:
https://www.google.ee/maps/@59.3870...4!1s1-5E42JSEsNykyT9UCNORQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Of course, a lot of them have been renovated.
Countryside, where my aunt has an old farmhouse:
https://www.google.ee/maps/@58.3519...4!1sFbzDdGrbWFAJbyvXOQPqrg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
What is the percentage of Houston Rockets or New Orleans Pelicans fans, who can built/construct a similar house from a scratch?
Of course, living in warm climate building a house is much easier; no need for insulation, heating etc.