Status: 07/23/2021 9:05 a.m.
Droughts, floods and storms hit every region of the world – and they claim many victims. According to the World Weather Organization, more than a million people have died from natural disasters in the past 50 years or so.
Storms, droughts, floods and extreme temperatures have killed more than a million people around the world in the past few decades. That comes from the data of the World Weather Organization (WMO) in Geneva, which belongs to the UN. Such natural disasters would be caused and exacerbated by climate change, warned WMO General Secretary Petteri Taalas.
No region on earth is spared
Heavy rainfalls like recently in Germany and other European countries increased and showed that no region in the world would be spared. The past heat waves in North America are also clearly due to climate change. “More and more, episodes of heavy rain are a sign of climate change,” Taalas said. “As the atmosphere gets warmer, it holds more moisture, which means that during storms it rains more and the risk of flooding increases.”
650,000 dead from drought alone
The WMO evaluated data from 1970 to 2019. During this period, 650,000 people died in drought. Almost 580,000 people lost their lives in storms. Almost 59,000 children, women and men died in floods. Extreme temperatures were the cause of the death of almost 56,000 more people, said the WMO.
According to WMO, the most serious natural disaster in Europe in the past 50 years after damage to property was the floods in 2002, particularly on the Elbe. They caused damage amounting to 14 billion euros. According to initial estimates after the most recent flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, insurers reckon with up to five billion euros in insured damage.