A disaster regarding a weather, climate or water hazard occurred every day on average over the past 50 years – causing the death of 115 people as well as inflicting US$ 202 million losses daily, pursuant to the comprehensive new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The number of disasters has increased by a factor of five over the 50-year period, impelled by climate change, more extreme weather and improved reporting. Nonetheless, due to improved early warnings and disaster management, the number of deaths decreased about three-fold. As per the WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970 – 2019), there were more than 11,000 reported disasters ascribed to these hazards globally, with just over 2 million deaths and US$ 3.64 trillion losses.