MOLINE, Ill. — Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and extreme heat may be growing in frequency, however, data suggests that climate-related deaths worldwide continue to decline compared to previous decades. How could this be? It seems each week we learn about some type of new disaster with a heavy death toll attached to it. Let's dig into the numbers.
The World Meteorological Organization says the number of disasters has increased by some fivefold in just the past 50 years, but the number of deaths related to these disasters has fallen by nearly two-thirds. The number of billion-dollar disasters is also on the rise, however, a fairly recent study suggests that even that number could be impacted by the way in which the damage is measured.
Looking at the data above, nearly a century ago, around half a million people died on average each year from climate-related disasters, including floods, droughts, wildfires, and extreme temperatures. Fast forward to the most recent decades and you'll notice the death toll doesn't even begin to touch the higher numbers of the past. There are a couple reasons for this.
1) Economic Growth: As the world continues to see growth in monetary value and population, there are more structures that become impacted by climate-related disasters. Growing economies are also more resilient to these same disasters, compared to poorer ones.
2) Advancements in Technology: Weather forecasting has improved dramatically. Just in the last decade alone we've seen new satellites, supercomputers, and even artificial intelligence work their way into the forecasting process. Combine that with better warning technology and it's easy to see why more populations are better prepared now than ever before.
The future remains uncertain: The number of days between billion-dollar disasters continues to shrink as our planet warms. The biggest question remains, will future disasters become severe enough to reverse the trend in climate-related deaths that we are currently experiencing?
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