Natural disasters cost world nations
The new study by
The report largely blames climate change for powerful weather events that delivered havoc to nearly every corner of the world in 2023.
"The warming of the earth that has been accelerating for some years is intensifying the extreme weather in many regions, leading to increasing loss potentials," said
Rauch warned that "society and industry need to adapt to the changing risks -- otherwise loss burdens will inevitably increase."
Meanwhile, geophysical events led to 63,000 fatalities, which was 85% of total deaths in 2023 -- making it the highest death toll from natural disasters since 2010.
The most devastating natural disaster of the year occurred in February with a series of earthquakes hitting
The strongest tremor, measuring 7.8 magnitude, was the most powerful quake in
Most of the economic losses in 2023 were due to severe storms, which accounted for 76% of total losses, while the remaining 24% of losses were caused by earthquakes.
Insured losses worldwide due to natural disasters fell slightly below the five-year average of
High temperatures, including the hottest three-month period in history last summer, increased the frequency of weather disasters worldwide, the report stated.
By
Heat records toppled across the globe throughout 2023 as temperatures soared across
Night-time temperatures reached more than 89 degrees in
A silver lining in the report revealed there were no mega-disasters in industrialized nations in 2023, unlike previous years, such as in 2022 when Hurricane Ian drove overall global losses up by
The report pointed to a large number of severe regional storms that caused major impacts in
On average, the
Severe weather, including thunderstorms and hailstorms, were becoming more frequent across
An El Nino climate pattern in the North Pacific sustained extreme weather across the world last year, yet scientists maintain that climate change is still the biggest driver of global warming.
Heatwaves and drought led to major wildfires around the world. In
The report also mentions Typhoon Doksuri in July in
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