On August 27, 2020, after Hurricane Laura passed through the area in Lake Charles, Louisiana, debris and collapsed electrical wires were scattered on the streets.
- According to a United Nations agency, disasters have caused more than 2 million deaths in the past 50 years, with a total loss of 3.64 trillion U.S. dollars.
- Since the 1970s, the number of disasters has increased nearly five times, further indicating that extreme weather events have become more frequent due to global warming.
- The World Meteorological Organization attributed the increase in frequency to improvements in climate change and disaster reporting.
The United Nations agency said on Wednesday that the number of disasters such as floods and heat waves caused by climate change has increased fivefold in the past 50 years, causing more than 2 million deaths and total losses of US$3.64 trillion.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stated that its “Atlas” is the most comprehensive review of mortality and economic losses caused by extreme weather, water and climate events in history.
It investigated approximately 11,000 disasters that occurred between 1979 and 2019, including major disasters, such as the Ethiopian drought in 1983, which was the deadliest single event that caused 300,000 deaths, and the worst loss in 2005 Katri Hurricane Na, the loss was 163.61 billion U.S. dollars.
The report shows an accelerating trend. From the 1970s to the last ten years, the number of disasters has increased by nearly five times, further indicating that extreme weather events have become more frequent due to global warming.
WMO attributed the increase in frequency to improvements in climate change and disaster reporting.
The cost of the incident also soared from US$175.4 billion in the 1970s to US$1.38 trillion in the 2010s, when storms such as Harvey, Maria, and Irma swept the United States.
“As exposure increases, so do economic losses,” WMO Secretary-General Petri Talas said in the foreword.
However, although the hazards have become more expensive and frequent, the annual death toll has fallen from more than 50,000 in the 1970s to about 18,000 in the 2010s, which shows that better planning is paying off.
“The improved multi-hazard early warning system has resulted in a significant reduction in mortality,” Talas added.
WMO hopes that this report, which provides detailed regional classification, will be used to help governments formulate policies to better protect people.
The report stated that more than 91% of the 2 million deaths occurred in developing countries, and pointed out that only half of the 193 WMO members have a multi-hazard early warning system.
It also stated that the “serious gap” in weather observations, especially in Africa, is undermining the accuracy of early warning systems.
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