The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction reported yesterday that climate change was largely to blame for a near doubling of natural disasters in the past 20 years.
It said 7,348 major disaster events had occurred worldwide between 2000 and 2019, claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people and costing the global economy some $2.97 trillion.
This is a sharp increase over the previous twenty years. Between 1980 and 1999, 4, 212 disasters were linked to natural hazards worldwide claiming approximately 1.19 million lives and affecting 3.25 billion people resulting in approximately US$1.63 trillion in economic losses.
Much of the difference is explained by a rise in climate-related disasters including extreme weather events: from 3,656 climate-related events (1980-1999) to 6,681 climate-related disasters in the period 2000-2019.
The last twenty years has seen the number of major floods more than double, from 1,389 to 3,254, while the incidence of storms grew from 1,457 to 2,034. Floods and storms were the most prevalent events.
The report “The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019” also records major increases in other categories including drought, wildfires and extreme temperature events. There has also been a rise in geo-physical events including earthquakes and tsunamis which have killed more people than any of the other natural hazards under review in this report.
We are willfully destructive. That is the only conclusion one can come to when reviewing disaster events over the last twenty years. COVID-19 is but the latest proof that political and business leaders are yet to tune in to the world around them.Mami Mizutori, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction
Meanwhile, the Coalition Government pushes coal, oil and gas as if there was no tomorrow.