Since the year 2000, the number of natural disasters around the world has doubled. Natural disasters are defined as both weather-related incidents such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and floods, and non-weather related incidents such as wildfires and volcanic eruptions.
The Figures
Around 7,348 disasters have occurred around the world between 2000 and 2019, killing more than 1.2 million people and costing over £2.5 million in damage. This is almost double the number between 1980 and 1999, where 4,212 disasters occurred.
China and the United States have the highest recorded number of disasters between 2000 and 2019, with 577 disasters occurring in China, and 467 in the USA. India is close behind with 321 events.
Three of the deadliest disasters – called mega disasters because each killed more than 100,000 people – were the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
What are the reasons behind this increase?
The report by the UN officer for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) attributes the increase in natural disasters to a rise in climate-related disasters. These include floods, droughts and storms, with extreme heat also proving to be a large contributing factor.
“the world is currently heading towards at least a 3.2 degree Celsius increase in temperature”
Climatic disasters have risen from 3,656 between 1980 and 1999, to 6,681 between 2000 and 2019, another almost double increase.
The report further warns that, considering these figures, the world is currently heading towards at least a 3.2 degree Celsius increase in temperature by 2100, something which will trigger extreme climate disasters.
Rising global temperatures are to blame for the frequency of extreme weather and disaster events, according to scientists.
The number of natural disasters has almost doubled over the past 20 years and the climate crisis is to blame, the UN said.
— CNN International (@cnni) October 13, 2020
Researchers said the failure to take meaningful action could turn the world into “an uninhabitable hell for millions of people.” https://t.co/SPGnwprnvj
What are the possible repercussions?
Provider of the analytics for the report, Debarati Guha-Sapir of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the University of Louvain in Belgium, said:
“If this level of growth in extreme weather events continues over the next twenty years, the future of mankind looks very bleak indeed.”
Indeed, the UN Secretary-General’s representative for disaster risk deduction, Mami Mizutori, said that ‘we are wilfully destructive. That is the only conclusion we can come to.’
In a joint foreward to the UN report, Guha-Sapir and Mizutori said:
“It is baffling that we willingly and knowingly continue to sow the seeds of our destruction, despite the science and evidence that we are turning our only home into an uninhabitable hell for millions of people.”
Not only this, but the continuing increase in natural disasters because of climate change has a large costly impact, as well as posing a large risk to vulnerable people across the globe.
It has further been shown that women are often disproportionately affected by such disasters, especially in countries where women and children are likely to remain at home. The 1993 earthquake in India saw more women fatalities as they were more likely to be in the home due to their role as caregivers.
What can we do to help?
Considering this, there are many simple actions that we can take to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change. A new poll has revealed that two thirds of people in Britain believe that climate change is as serious as coronavirus – and the majority of people want the climate to be prioritised.
The poll says that the best ways to take action against climate change are to keep the Government prioritising it: through online petitions, strikes, and community action groups. It is also important to keep carbon emissions low: walking instead of driving, for example, and saving energy when at home.
Mizutori agrees that:
“It really is all about governance if we want to deliver this planet from the scourge of poverty, further loss of species and biodiversity, the explosion of urban risk and the worst consequences of global warming.”
For more advice on steps you can take to reduce the impact of climate change, the WWF website has lots of information: https://www.wwf.org.uk/what-we-do/climate-change-and-energy
Amelia Cutting
Featured Image courtesy of Wikilmages from Pixabay. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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