Rabat – Meteorological, climatic, and hydrological hazards have caused more damage in the past 50 years, even as the number of deaths decreased thanks to improved warning systems, the United Nations said in a report on Wednesday, September 1.
According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes, “natural hazards accounted for 50% of all disasters, 45% of all reported deaths and 74% of all reported economic losses.”
More than 11,000 disasters attributed to climate change have been reported over the past five decades worldwide, with an average of one meteorological, climatic or hydrological disaster per day – and an accumulation of two million deaths and $3.64 trillion worth of losses for the global economy.
More than 91% of the deaths took place in developing countries where drought, storms, extreme temperature, and flood proved to be the deadliest worldwide.
Despite a pointed increase in climate-related disasters, the early warning systems and disaster management have significantly improved between 1970 and 2019, leading the number of deaths to drop from 50.000 to less than 20.000 in the 2010s, according to the report.
Meanwhile, economic losses have increased sevenfold in the same period, going from $49 million to $383 million per day globally, with hurricanes and floods as the main reason behind the crisis.
“Economic losses are mounting as exposure increases, but, behind the stark statistics, lies a message of hope. Improved multi-hazard early warning systems have led to a significant reduction in mortality. Quite simply, we are better than ever before at saving lives,” explains WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
The Atlas report also notes that climate change related to water vapor in the atmosphere has exacerbated extreme rainfall and flooding causing “sea level events associated with tropical cyclones.” Some of the studies quoted in the report found that human influence could also intensify extreme rainfall.
With only half of WMO’s 193 member countries possessing multi-hazard early warning systems, disaster risks due to climate change and weather events continue to grow as the population grows in hazard-exposed areas.
Mami Mizutori, UN Special Representative and head of the Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, called for international cooperation to tackle “the chronic problem of huge numbers of people being displaced each year by floods, storms, and drought.”
