The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
Climate Disasters Now Happening Weekly, UN Official Warns
By Jessica Corbett
A "staggering" new warning from a top United Nations official that climate crisis-related disasters are now occurring at the rate of one per week, with developing nations disproportionately at risk, provoked calls for immediate global action to combat the human-caused climate emergency.
The warning came in an interview with The Guardian, which reported Sunday:
Catastrophes such as cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique and the drought afflicting India make headlines around the world. But large numbers of "lower impact events" that are causing death, displacement, and suffering are occurring much faster than predicted, said Mami Mizutori, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on disaster risk reduction. "This is not about the future, this is about today."
This means that adapting to the climate crisis could no longer be seen as a long-term problem, but one that needed investment now, she said. "People need to talk more about adaptation and resilience."
"We talk about a climate emergency and a climate crisis, but if we cannot confront this [issue of adapting to the effects] we will not survive," Mizutori added. "We need to look at the risks of not investing in resilience."
“The most vulnerable people are the poor, women, children, the elderly, the disabled and displaced” https://t.co/528vIBCbn8— Wolfgang Cramer 🌍 (@wolfgangcramer) July 7, 2019
The estimated annual cost of climate-related disasters is $520 billion, the newspaper noted, "while the additional cost of building infrastructure that is resistant to the effects of global heating is only about 3 percent, or $2.7 trillion in total over the next 20 years."
"This is not a lot of money [in the context of infrastructure spending], but investors have not been doing enough," said Mizutori. "Resilience needs to become a commodity that people will pay for."
This isn't just about "standards" and "early warning". It's about CASH going where it's most needed. No-where near enough reaches the places where these disasters are happening every day. #climatefinance #climatecrisishttps://t.co/qtLR5JGkpn— Sam Greene (@Adaptedplanet) July 7, 2019
Mizutori said that improving the systems that warn the public of severe weather and expanding awareness of which places and people are most vulnerable could help prevent lower impact disasters. She noted that while urgent work is needed to prepare the developing world, richer countries are also experiencing the consequences of global heating — including devastating wildfires and dangerous heatwaves.
The adaption measures Mizutori called for include raising — and enforcing — infrastructure standards to make houses and businesses, roads and railways, and energy and water systems more capable of withstanding the impacts of the warming world, which scientists warn will increasing mean more frequent and intense extreme weather events. She also highlighted the potential of "nature-based solutions."
Peter Strachan — a professor and expert on energy policy, environmental management and energy transitions at the UK's Robert Gordon University — called the report "staggering" and alerted several environmental and climate advocacy groups on Twitter.
One #ClimateCrisis disaster happening every week, UN warns— Prof Peter Strachan (@ProfStrachan) July 7, 2019
"Estimates put the cost of climate-related disasters at $520bn a year"#ClimateBreakdown#EnergyTransition#ClimateEmergency@ExtinctionR @friends_earth @Animal_Watch @GretaThunberghttps://t.co/7TEWXwlDlk
Sharing The Guardian's article on Twitter, the U.S.-based youth-led Sunrise Movement declared: "This is an emergency. We need political leadership that acts like it."
One climate crisis-fueled disaster every week.— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) July 7, 2019
That means every week, tens of thousands of people are losing their lives or livelihoods.
This is an emergency. We need political leadership that acts like it.https://t.co/1CbqRj6MDI
"This is why it's so offensive to talk about climate impacting 'our children/grandchildren,'" tweeted War on Want executive director Asad Rehman, referencing a common talking point among U.S., European and UN leaders. "Do people of global South facing disaster every week not deserve the right to life? The answer from rich countries and those who call for net zero by 2050 is a big No."
"Rather than scheming about how to make more money off of the climate crisis, Wells Fargo should stop making the problem worse and divest from the dirtiest fuels on the planet." https://t.co/HTziCaSVoG— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) January 25, 2019
Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams.
- UN 20-year review: earthquakes and tsunamis kill more people ... ›
- Climate action: 4 shifts the UN chief encourages Governments to make ›
- Climate disasters cause global economic losses to soar - UN - Reuters ›
- Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Overview | National ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
John Paul Stevens, the retired Supreme Court Justice who wrote the opinion granting environmental agencies the power to regulate greenhouse gases, died Tuesday at the age of 99. His decision gave the U.S. government important legal tools for fighting the climate crisis.
By Elliott Negin
On July 8, President Trump hosted a White House event to unabashedly tout his truly abysmal environmental record. The following day, coincidentally, marked the one-year anniversary of Andrew Wheeler at the helm of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), first as acting administrator and then as administrator after the Senate confirmed him in late February.
By Tara Lohan
If you're a lover of wilderness, wildlife, the American West and the public lands on which they all depend, then journalist Christopher Ketcham's new book is required — if depressing — reading.
World hunger is on the rise for the third consecutive year after decades of decline, a new United Nations (UN) report says. The climate crisis ranks alongside conflict as the top cause of food shortages that force more than 821 million people worldwide to experience chronic hunger. That number includes more than 150 million children whose growth is stunted due to a lack of food.
By Adrienne L. Hollis
Because extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather hazards we currently face, Union of Concerned Scientist's Killer Heat Report for the U.S. is the most important document I have read. It is a veritable wake up call for all of us. It is timely, eye-opening, transparent and factual and it deals with the stark reality of our future if we do not make changes quickly (think yesterday). It is important to ensure that we all understand it. Here are 10 terms that really help drive home the messages in the heat report and help us understand the ramifications of inaction.
Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Senate Republican who has been a close ally of Donald Trump, did not mince words last week on the climate crisis and what he thinks the president needs to do about it.