A study puts insured property losses from this year’s costliest weather phenomena disasters at more than $168.1 billion. They have all had financially costly events impacts of $3 billion or more. Most of these estimates are based only on insured losses, meaning the true financial costs are likely to be even higher, while the human costs are uncounted.
Experts focus on financial costs, which are usually higher in richer countries because they have higher property values and can afford insurance, however some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2022 hit poorer nations. Which have contributed little to causing the climate crisis and have the fewest buffers with which to withstand shocks.
These extreme events highlight the need for more urgent climate actions, due to the severe human suffering such as, food insecurity, drought, mass displacements and loss of life.
The 10 weather phenomena disasters
Hurricane ‘Ian
On September 26, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cuba as a category 3 storm. Three people died on the island and more than 30,000 were evacuated. But two days later, the storm was upgraded to a category 4 and made its wat to Florida. There, 130 people died, making Ian the second deadliest hurricane in the country.The economic cost of this disaster was of $100 billion.
Extreme drought in Europe
The summer of 2022 was the hottest in Europe since at least 1880, explained the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The high temperatures were coupled with an unprecedented drought that brought some of Europe’s main rivers to very low levels. All this has caused economic impacts on agriculture, livestock and energy generation, the cost of which exceeds 20 billion dollars.
A group of scientists specialized in the attribution of extreme phenomena to climate change, the World Weather Attribution (WWA). It produced a report highlighting the unusual nature of this drought, pointing out that the current level of global warming leads to a drought of this caliber occurring once every 20 years in the absence of climate change, it would occur once every 400 years.
Floods in China
This year’s rainy season (June, July and August) in China has been intense and has generated major floods, which have resulted in $12.3 billion in costs due to damages.
Climate change also has impacts on changing rainfall patterns and in the case of China more torrential rains are expected, which will cause more flooding.
Drought in China
Despite the floods mentioned above, throughout 2022 a significant part of China has been subjected to high temperatures and low rainfall. As a result, the level of some river basins, such as the Yangtze, the country’s largest river, has dropped so low that it has affected hydroelectric power generation and river transport. Losses linked to this drought exceed US$ 8.4 billion in China.
Floods in Australia
Between February and April this year, a large part of eastern Australia was also affected by heavy rains, which led to significant flooding in the country. The final toll was 27 deaths, more than 60,000 displaced and losses of US$7.5 billion.
Floods in Pakistan
From June to the end of August, Pakistan experienced an extremely intense season that flooded a significant area of the country. The floods killed 1.1 million head of livestock and destroyed crops on 3.8 million hectares. In addition, 1,739 people died and seven million more were forced to leave their homes. The costs of these catastrophic floods are estimated at $30 billion in damages.
WWA climate experts conducted an attribution report on this event and concluded that human-caused climate change with its greenhouse gas emissions «probably increased» the heavy rainfall in Pakistan. However, if you look at the list of nations that have contributed the most to the problem with their historical emissions, Pakistan is responsible for only 0.3% of the gases emitted since the Industrial Revolution, although it is in the red zone of climate risks.
Storm ‘Eunice
Storm Eunice struck northern and central Europe in February. The extreme event caused extensive damage in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom, and took the lives of 16 people. The costs of this storm exceeded $4.3 billion.
Drought in Brazil
More than $ 4 billion this year is the cost of the drought that is affecting Brazil. The lack of rainfall is linked to La Niña, a cyclical weather phenomenon that has been affecting South America for three years. But it is worth noting that humans are also partly responsible for the drought: for example, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has already been linked to reduced rainfall in the region.
Hurricane ‘Fiona
In September, Hurricane Fiona first reached Puerto Rico, where 90% of the population was without electricity. It then moved on to the Dominican Republic, where 13,000 people were displaced and 1.2 million had their water cut off. And, after creating more problems on several Atlantic islands, it eventually affected Canada, becoming the most intense tropical cyclone in the history of that North American country. The estimated cost of this event, which killed 25 people, exceeds US$3 billion.
Floods in South Africa
In April, South Africa experienced several days of heavy rains that triggered flooding and landslides. At least 459 people died and more than 40,000 were displaced from their homes. The cost of insured property exceeded $3 billion and, again, a WWA report pointed to climate change as a driver of the increase in such rains in the region.
All these meteorological catastrophes are causing, in addition to enormous damage, a series of costs that are affecting the world as a whole. Much of this is being blamed on man-made global warming, so it may be time to take drastic decisions before it is too late.
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