Climate and water disasters have killed 2 million people in 50 years

At the opening of the World Meteorological Congress, the WMO presented a total balance of deaths and economic losses due to climatic events in the last 50 years

At the opening of the World Meteorological Congress, the World Meteorological Organization, WMO, one of the bodies of the United Nations Organization, UN, presented an overall balance of deaths and economic losses due to climatic events over the last 50 years. In Latin America, 61% of tragedies involved floods. Drought has caused 95% of deaths in Africa.

Between 1970 and 2021, 11,778 climate and water disasters were recorded, resulting in 2 million deaths and $4.3 trillion in economic losses. The data comes from the World Meteorological Organization, WMO.

According to the survey, more than 90% of deaths occurred in developing countries. The agency points out that early warning systems and disaster management have reduced human losses in recent years.

Photo: Ivinhema (MS), by Valdeci Sebastião da Silva

$115.2 billion in economic losses in Latin America

The data reveals that 39% of the economic impact occurred in the United States, reaching US$1.7 trillion in the analyzed period. In less developed countries, the cost of these environmental tragedies is disproportionately high relative to the size of the economies.

In South America, OMM accounted for 943 weather- and water-related disasters. About 61% of these were floods. In total, the disasters caused 58,484 deaths and $115.2 billion in economic losses.

“Early Warning Saves Lives”.

The study was presented at the World Meteorological Congress, which began on Monday 22 May. The event seeks to establish a high-level dialogue on the acceleration and expansion of actions to ensure early warning services reach everyone by the end of 2027.

WTO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said Cyclone Mocha, which caused widespread devastation in Myanmar and Bangladesh, was an example of how “the most vulnerable communities” suffer the greatest impacts of climate disasters.

He said the early warnings ensured that the death rates were much lower than those recorded in previous meteorological events in these two countries. According to the head of the WMO, “early warnings save lives”.

The deaths recorded in 2020 and 2021, which reach a total of 22,608, indicate a decrease in mortality compared to the annual average of the previous decade. the pageeconomic rules increased, most of which are attributed to the category of storms.

In Africa, total disasters reached 1,839 between 1970 and 2021. They caused 733,585 deaths and $43 billion in damage to the economy. droughts accounted for 95% of reported deaths.

Source: United Nations News

Source: Terra

Rose

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