Over the past 50 years, there were more than 11 000 reported weather, climate and water-related disasters, resulting in just over 2 million deaths and US$ 3.64 trillion in economic losses. That breaks down to a daily global average of 115 deaths and US$ 202 million in economic losses.
According to WMO’s Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes 1970-2019, the number of disasters increased five-fold between 1970 and 2019. Economic losses have increased even more – by a factor of seven.
However, thanks to improved early warnings and disaster risk reduction strategies, the number of deaths decreased almost three-fold since 1970.
Droughts have claimed the most lives over the past 50 years, especially in Africa. There were an estimated 450,000 deaths related to drought in Ethiopia and Sudan in 1983. Storms have inflicted the second heaviest casualty toll, particularly in Asia (a tropical cyclone killed 300,000 in Bangladesh in 1970 and another 140,000 in 1991).
Unfortunately, the poor are hardest hit. Approximately nine in ten deaths are in developing countries.
Tropical cyclones caused the most…
