The alarm bell for extreme weather phenomena such as heat waves and the floods knocks o European Environment Agency asking for action to be taken. “They have claimed the lives of approximately 195,000 people and caused nearly €560 billion in damage since 1980” the EEA calculates.
“Extreme weather and climate events caused economic losses estimated to reach €560 billion between 1980 and 2021of which only 170 billion euros (30%) were insured” points out the institution of the European Union, which is creating a new portal where it gathers the most recent relevant data on these phenomena while emphasizing that they left behind almost 195,000 dead.
In February 2022, the report presented by the EEA spoke of damages of 510 billion euros and 142,000 deaths during the period 1980-2020.
In 2021, floods in Germany and Belgium caused almost €50 billion in damage.
As far as victims are concerned, the change in methodology used in France and Germany is the cause of the large variation, the European institution clarifies.
“To avoid further losses, we urgently need to move from reacting to extreme weather events (…) to preventive preparation,” EEA expert Alexandra Kazmirczak told AFP.
Based on the new census, heatwaves accounted for 81% of deaths and 15% of economic losses.
Back-to-back heat waves hit Europe in the summer of 2022 – their consequences are not included in today’s census – causing a much higher than average number of deaths in the Old Continent.
An additional 53,000 deaths (+16%) were recorded in July 2022 compared to the monthly average for the period 2016-2019 in Europe, although not all were attributable to the heat, the EEA said.
Spain recorded more than 4,600 deaths due to extreme heat from June to August.
Climate models predict extreme heat waves of longer duration, intensity and frequency, forcing Europe to act to protect its aging population, which is vulnerable to increased temperatures.
“Most national adaptation policies (…) recognize the consequences of heat on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, but less than half cover the direct consequences of heat such as dehydration or heatstroke,” according to the EU organization and as reported by Athenaikos News agency.
“Disastrous consequences
On land, human-caused climate change has quintupled to six-fold the likelihood of drought in 2022, during which forest fires hit twice as much land as in previous years, the EEA points out.
Droughts can prove extremely costly.
Their costs could rise from €9 billion a year today to €25 billion by the end of the century if the temperature rise reaches 1.5°C, but could rise to €31 billion if the increase is 2° Celsius and at 45 billion euros if it is 3° Celsius, based on the scientific scenarios.
For agriculture, the consequences can be “disastrous”.
“Farmers can limit negative impacts (…) by adopting crop varieties, changing harvest dates and irrigation methods,” says the EEA.
“If they don’t adapt, agricultural efficiency and income will decline in the future,” he warns.
Although human losses from floods are lower (2% of the total), floods are the most costly disasters, accounting for 56% of economic losses.
Source: News Beast
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