U.N. Weather agency reported Monday that the economic impact of weather and climate related disasters is continuing to increase, despite improvements in early warning systems which have reduced the death toll.
In an updated report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it was revealed that over the last half century, there have been more than 12,000 extreme weather events, climate-related and water-related, which has killed or injured 2 million people, and cost the economy $4.3 trillion.
WMO’s stark summary came at the opening of its four-yearly Congress among member countries. The message was that more must be done by 2027 to improve alert systems to extreme weather events.
“Economic loss has soared.” WMO stated in a press release that “improved early warnings and coordinated catastrophe management have slashed human casualties over the last half century”. The rising trend in economic damages is expected to continue.
The Geneva-based agency warned repeatedly about the impact of climate change caused by humans, saying that rising temperatures had increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather, including heat waves, hurricanes and cyclones.
WMO claims early warning systems helped reduce deaths related to climate and weather-related disasters.
Nine out of 10 deaths in the world occurred in developing countries. WMO reports that the economic impact relative to gross national product has been more felt in developing countries.
WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas stated that the Cyclonic Storm Mocha which swept through Myanmar and Bangladesh in this month was a good example of how “the most vulnerable communities unfortunately suffer the brunt” from weather, climate and other water-related hazards.
He said that in the past, Myanmar and Bangladesh had suffered deaths of tens or even hundreds of thousand people. Early warnings and disaster planning have made these horrific mortality rates a thing of the past.
He said that “early warnings can save lives.”
