Climate change: Huge toll of extreme weather disasters in 2021

LONDON - Weather events, linked to a changing climate, brought misery to millions around the world in 2021 accord ing to a new report.

The study, from the charity Christian Aid, identified 10 extreme events that each caused more than $1.5 billion of damage.

The biggest financial impacts were from Hurricane Ida which hit the US in August and flooding in Europe in July.

In many poorer regions, floods and storms caused mass dis placements of people and severe suffering.

In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the first part of its sixth assessment report.

In relation to hurricanes and tropical cyclones, the authors said they had “high confidence” that the evidence of human influence has strengthened.

“The proportion of intense tropical cyclones, average peak tropical cyclone wind speeds, and peak wind speeds of the most intense tropical cyclones will increase on the global scale with in creasing global warming,” the study said.

Just a few weeks after that report came out, Hurricane Ida hit the US.

According to Christian Aid it was the most financially destruc tive weather event of the year. The slow-moving hurricane saw thousands of residents in Louisiana evacuated out of its path.

That storm brought massive rainfall across a number of states and cities, with New York issuing a flash-flood emergency alert for the first time. Around 95 people died, with the economic losses estimated at $65bn.

The second most financial costly event was the widespread flooding across Germany, France and other European countries in July.

The speed and intensity of the water overwhelmed defences and 240 people lost their lives. Reported damages were around $43bn.

In the study, the majority of the weather events in the list oc curred in developed countries.

That’s because it is more feasible to estimate financial losses from insurance claims and these are usually available in rich er countries, where people can afford to insure their homes and businesses.

The report also documents many other events where the finan cial impact is harder to ascertain, but where the impact on people is significant.

Flooding in South Sudan displaced over 800, 000 people while 200, 000 had to move to escape Cyclone Tauktae which hit India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives in May. – BBC.