Floodwaters in Houston, Texas from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Revolution Messaging/Flickr
There has been a “staggering rise” in the number of extreme weather events over the past 20 years, driven largely by rising global temperatures and other climatic changes, according to a new report from the United Nations. From 2000 to 2019, there were 7,348 major natural disasters around the world, killing 1.23 million people and resulting in $2.97 trillion in global economic losses.
By comparison, the previous 20-year period, 1980-1999, had 4,212 natural disasters, claiming 1.19 million lives and causing $1.63 trillion in economic losses.
Much of this increase, the report notes, can be attributed to climate change. Climate-related disasters jumped 83 percent — from 3,656 events during the 1980-1999 period to 6,681 in the past 20 years. Major floods have more than doubled, the number of severe storms has risen 40 percent, and there have been major increases in droughts, wildfires, and heatwaves.
“We are willfully destructive,” Mami Mizutori, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, said in a statement. “That is the only conclusion one can come to when reviewing disaster events over the last twenty years. Disaster management agencies, civil protection departments, fire brigades, public health authorities, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and many NGOs are fighting an uphill battle against an ever-rising tide of extreme weather events. More lives are being saved, but more people are being affected by the expanding climate emergency.”
The report, “The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019,” found that Asia experienced the highest number of extreme weather events, with 3,068 over the 20-year period. China had the highest number of any single country, suffering from 577 major natural disasters. The United States came in second, with 467 events, followed by India, 321 events, the Philippines, 304, and Indonesia, with 278 disasters.
The authors of the report said the findings show a critical need to invest in disaster prevention and preparedness.
“Disaster risk is becoming systemic with one event overlapping and influencing another in ways that are testing our resilience to the limit,” Mizutori said. “The odds are being stacked against us when we fail to act on science and early warnings to invest in prevention, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.”
Credit: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
The authors of the report said the findings show a critical need to invest in disaster prevention and preparedness.
“Disaster risk is becoming systemic with one event overlapping and influencing another in ways that are testing our resilience to the limit,” Mizutori said. “The odds are being stacked against us when we fail to act on science and early warnings to invest in prevention, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.”
