The number of natural disasters, such as floods and heat waves, due to climate change has increased fivefold in the last 50 years, costing the lives of more than 2 million people, the UN said in a report today.
According to the Atlas of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which records the number of deaths and economic damage from extreme meteorological, climatic and hydrological phenomena from 1970 to 2019, the damage caused by them has increased fivefold in the period she.
“The number of extreme meteorological, climatic and hydrological phenomena continues to increase. “Climate change will make them more frequent and stronger in many parts of the world,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement.
In all, more than 11,000 disasters due to these phenomena have been reported over the past five decades worldwide, causing just over two million deaths and $ 3.64 trillion (more than € 3.08 trillion) in property damage. .
On average, a disaster caused by meteorological, climatic or hydrological causes is recorded every day for the last 50 years, causing the daily death of 115 people and damage of 202 million dollars.
More than 91% of these deaths are recorded in developing countries.
Drought is responsible for most of the loss of life in the last 50 years, causing about 650,000 deaths, followed by storms (more than 577,000 deaths) and floods (58,700 deaths) and extreme temperatures (almost 56,000 deaths).
“Best equipped”
However, improving early warning systems and disaster management translates into a significant reduction in mortality. The death toll dropped from more than 50,000 a year in the 1970s to less than 20,000 in the 2010s.
“We are just better equipped than ever to save lives,” Taalas said.
In terms of financial losses, they increased from $ 49 million a day on average in the 1970s to $ 383 million a day between 2010 and 2019. Storms cause the most material damage and are responsible for largest financial losses globally, according to the WMO.
Seven of the most costly natural disasters of the last 50 years have occurred since 2005, three of which in 2007: Hurricanes Harvey (nearly $ 97 billion in damage), Maria (nearly $ 70 billion) and Irma (nearly $ 60 billion). billion).
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