SHAFAQNA- More than two million deaths and 4.3 trillion dollars in economic damage; The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Monday (22 May 2023) that this is the impact of half a century of extreme weather events that have been turbo-charged by man-made global warming.
Weather, climate and water-related hazards caused nearly 12,000 disasters between 1970 and 2021, according to the WMO, UN News reported.
It’s also stated, least developed countries and small island developing countries have borne a high cost relative to the size of their economies, the WMO said.
“Unfortunately, the most vulnerable communities bear the brunt of climate, weather and water-related risks,” said WMO Secretary-General Petri Talas.
In less developed countries, the WMO reported that several disasters over the past half century have caused economic losses of up to 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
In small island developing states, one out of five disasters has an impact of “more than five percent” of GDP, and some disasters wipe out countries’ entire GDP.
Asia has suffered the most deaths from extreme weather, climate and water-related events in the past 50 years, with nearly one million deaths – more than half in Bangladesh alone.
In Africa, the WMO said drought was responsible for 95 percent of the 733,585 deaths reported from climate-related disasters.
However, WMO stressed that early warnings and coordinated disaster management have helped reduce the deadly effects of disasters. “Early warnings save lives,” Mr Talas insisted.
The UN agency also noted that recorded deaths for 2020 and 2021 were lower than the average of the previous decade.
Pointing to the example of last week’s super typhoon Moka, which wreaked havoc in coastal areas of Myanmar and Bangladesh and affected the “poorest of the poor,” Mr. Talas noted that similar weather disasters in the past caused “tens of casualties.” And even “hundreds of thousands” have died in both countries.
The agency has previously shown that just 24 hours before an impending weather hazard can reduce damage by 30 percent, calling early warnings the “pale fruit” of climate change adaptation because of their tenfold return on investment.
Source: UN News
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