Natural disasters doubled in 20 years owing to climate change: UN

NEW DELHI: United Nations (UN) published a report establishing that climate change is the biggest factor behind the doubling in the number of natural disasters in the past 20 years. According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), 4,212 major natural disasters were recorded between the years 1980 and 1999. Meanwhile, the number of natural disasters between 2000 and 2019 stands at 7,348, which far outstrips the previous two decades’ figures.

The report is titled, “The Human Cost of Disasters 2000–2019” and it accredits the increase in the number of climate-related disasters such as floods, droughts, and storms. Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of UNDRR, said that the conclusion of the report is, “We are wilfully destructive”. She added that governments are not doing enough to prevent climate hazards.

The report did not refer to biological hazards and disease-related disasters. However, Mizutori added that the pandemic this year was the latest proof of the fact that political and business leaders are yet to tune in to the world around them. Data showed that early warning systems and data preparedness have helped bring down the number of deaths in natural disasters but more people are being affected by the “expanding climate emergency.”