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Climate disasters, U.N. certifies 2 million victims in last 50 years
Data collected by the World Meteorological Organisation, which is part of the United Nations, on the direct effects of climate change over the last 50 years, from 1970 to 2021, have been released in recent days.
The data collected are truly frightening, and speak of more than 12,000 natural disasters specifically due to climate change, with more than 2 million ascertained victims and an economic damage that has been calculated, over the five decades, at 4300 billion dollars.
Island states and developing countries are most affected, and the figure could have been even worse had it not been for the help of early warnings, which still fail to cover a large part of the world's population.
Climate disasters, U.N. certifies 2 million victims in last 50 years
Data collected by the World Meteorological Organisation (Wmo), which is part of the United Nations (UN), on the direct effects of climate change over the last 50 years, from 1970 to 2021, have been released in recent days. The data collected are truly frightening, and speak of more than 12,000 natural disasters specifically due to climate change, with more than 2 million ascertained victims and an economic damage that has been calculated, over the five decades, at USD 4300 billion.
Data updated for the past two years
The Wmo has finally updated the 'Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses due to Extreme Weather, Climate and Water Conditions', which was still stuck in 2021. This will then be presented at the opening of the quadrennial World Meteorological Congress, which should also provide more tools to combat and prevent disasters and save even more lives.
The data for 2020 and 2021
In this update, the casualties recorded for 2020 and 2021, which total 22,608, are reported, and are illustrative, Wmo reports, 'of a further decrease in mortality compared to the annual average of the previous decade. Economic losses, on the other hand, have increased, most of which are attributed to the storm category'.
The early warning
Over the past 50 years, national organisations have made significant efforts to work on the prevention of natural disasters due to climate change. In this regard, an early warning system has been put in place, which has significantly reduced the rate of loss of life. Although this system is not yet available to all countries, the UN aims to make it global by 2027.
What is early warning
As the World Meteorological Organisation explains in detail, the early warning system is 'a proven and effective climate adaptation measure that saves lives and provides at least a tenfold return on investment'. At the moment, however, it is only available to half of the UN countries. Moreover, there is very low coverage in small island developing states (particularly in the Caribbean) and in the so-called Least Developed Countries (most in Africa and Asia).
What is Wmo
The Congress is the highest decision-making body of the Wmo, which brings together 191 countries and the highest representatives of UN agencies, development banks, governments and national meteorological and hydrological services responsible for issuing early warnings, which is one of the strategic priorities the body aims to endorse.
Concern over rising temperature
Already in the past few days, the Wmo had come to the forefront with its concerns about the rise in global temperatures, and the likely failure of the world's temperature containment efforts. In fact, according to the World Meteorological Organisation, there is a 66% chance that the temperature will exceed 1.5°C in the period between 2023 and 2027. And there is a 98% chance that at least one of the next five years, or the entire five-year period, will be the hottest on record.
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