The Cave Fire in Santa Barbara, California in November 2019. Santa Barbara County Fire Info
Climate change is getting costlier and deadlier. A new report from British charity Christian Aid found that 15 of the world's largest natural disasters in 2019 — including wildfires, hurricanes, typhoons and more — had links to a warming world. All 15 of those disasters cost more than $1 billion in damages, and seven of them cost more than $10 billion each.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Record rainfall in the spring caused more than $12.5 billion in damages throughout the midwest and southern U.S. due to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>. On the flip side, a dry summer and record heat waves, which spurred massive <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a> in California, cost more than $25 billion in damages. The report, however, states many of the totals have likely been underestimated.</p><p>"These figures are likely to be underestimates as they often show only insured losses and do not always take into account other financial costs, such as lost productivity and uninsured losses," the report states.</p>
<p>Although the financial burden of these extreme events is severe, developing nations are experiencing the worst loss. More than 1,300 people lost their lives to Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi in March. Another 1,900 were killed in Northern India from June to October when monsoon flooding hit record levels. And 673 people were killed during Hurricane Dorian, which many regard as the worst natural disaster to ever hit the Bahamas.</p><p>"The great tragedy of climate change is that it is the poorest and most vulnerable who suffer the most, despite us doing the least to cause it," Dr. Adelle Thomas from the University of the Bahamas said in a <a href="https://mediacentre.christianaid.org.uk/strongnew-report-2019-saw-world-counting-the-cost-of-climate-breakdown-strong/" target="_blank">press release</a>. "However as this year has shown, no continent is immune from global warming and its impacts."</p>
<p>This year is projected to be the second hottest year on record and losses from these <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> events are likely to get worse going into the new decade. The report urges world leaders to begin taking serious steps toward mitigating these losses.</p><p>"Last year emissions continued to rise, so it's essential that nations prepare new and enhanced pledges for action to the Paris agreement as soon as possible," Dr. Katherine Kramer, co-author of the report and the global lead on climate change at Christian Aid, said in a <a href="https://mediacentre.christianaid.org.uk/strongnew-report-2019-saw-world-counting-the-cost-of-climate-breakdown-strong/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages. But global temperatures have already increased <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2841/2018-fourth-warmest-year-in-continued-warming-trend-according-to-nasa-noaa/" target="_blank">1 degree Celsius</a>, and without more urgent action, they are expected to surpass the 2 degree mark by the end of the century.</p><p>"2019 was not the new normal," the Christian Aid report stated. "The world's weather will continue to become ever-more extreme and people around the world will continue to pay the price. The challenge ahead is to minimize the impacts through deep and rapid emissions cuts."</p>
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Record 7 Million People Displaced by Extreme Weather Events in First Half of 2019
13 September 2019
Climate
People wade through flood waters in a rural neighborhood affected by Cyclone Idai on March 24. Andrew Renneisen / Getty Images
In another sign of the climate crisis, a record seven million people were displaced from their homes by extreme weather events during the first half of 2019, The New York Times reported Thursday.
<p>The number comes from the <a href="http://www.internal-displacement.org/" target="_blank">Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre</a> (IDMC), which has been using data from governments, UN humanitarian agencies and news accounts to publish annual reports since 2003. Their mid-year figures for 2019, <a href="http://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/2019-mid-year-figures_for%20website%20upload.pdf" target="_blank">published Thursday</a>, marked the highest number of disaster displacements the organization has ever recorded by this point in the year. The number was nearly double the number displaced by conflict and violence during the same period this year, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/extreme-weather-hurricane-florence-refugees-dorian-world-a9103216.html" target="_blank">The Independent pointed out</a>.</p>
<div id="1e0c4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="XOMJ521576661470"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1172046408419069953" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Our latest figures reveal that there were about 10.8M new displacements worldwide between January and June 2019, 7M… https://t.co/nS4z2XsXG1</div> — IDMC (@IDMC)<a href="https://twitter.com/IDMC_Geneva/statuses/1172046408419069953">1568272613.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"In today's changing climate, mass displacement triggered by extreme weather events is becoming the norm," the report authors wrote.<br></p><p>The number was tallied tallied before <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bahamas-hurricane-dorian-crisis-2640319105.html" target="_self">Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas</a>, and the organization predicted it could soar to 22 million by the end of the year, making 2019 one of the worst years for disaster-caused displacement on record. That's because the worst disasters usually occur between June and September, which is when most storms inundate the tropics, The New York Times explained.</p>
<div id="310df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="JYT59K1576661470"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1172101481035685890" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Based on past trends and the fact that the majority of weather-related hazards occur in the latter half of the year… https://t.co/iStcfW5Ynj</div> — IDMC (@IDMC)<a href="https://twitter.com/IDMC_Geneva/statuses/1172101481035685890">1568285744.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The extreme weather events covered by the report included</p><ol><li><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cyclone-fani-india-bangladesh-2636402554.html" target="_self">Cyclone Fani</a>, which displaced 3.4 million people in India and Bangladesh in May</li><li><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cyclone-idai-mozambique-malawi-zimbabwe-2631993550.html" target="_self">Cyclone Idai</a>, which displaced 617,000 in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Madagascar in March</li><li><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flooding-in-iran-2634007118.html" target="_self">Spring flooding in Iran</a>, which displaced 500,000</li></ol><p>Cyclone Vayu also displaced 289,000 in India in June, while <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> displaced 405,000 in the Philippines, 190,000 in Ethiopia and 75,000 in Bolivia. However, not all disaster displacements are equal. The 3.4 million displaced by Fani were evacuated ahead of time, an act that saved lives and showed that India and Bangladesh had learned from past disasters.</p>
<div id="34df1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1O0RH81576661470"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1172223350267006976" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">There were 7M new displacements associated with more than 950 disaster events in the first half of 2019.… https://t.co/lW9xfXZvza</div> — IDMC (@IDMC)<a href="https://twitter.com/IDMC_Geneva/statuses/1172223350267006976">1568314800.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The IDMC urged both individual countries and the international community to learn from the growing number of weather-related displacements.</p><p>"With the impact of climate change, in the future these types of hazards are expected to become more intense," IDMC Director Alexandra Bilak told The New York Times. "Countries that are affected repeatedly like the Bahamas need to prepare for similar, if not worsening, trends."</p><p>At the same time, the report urged the world leaders coming together this month for the UN Climate Action Summit in New York to take the figures into account.</p>"The international community cannot continue to ignore internally displaced people," Bilak said in a <a href="http://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Millions%20of%20people%20forced%20from%20their%20homes%20due%20to%20conflict%20and%20disasters%20in%20first%20half%20of%202019.pdf" target="_blank">press release</a>. "We must support national governments in their efforts to protect and assist IDPs, build peace and invest in sustainable development and climate change adaptation. Only then will we be able to reduce the upheaval, trauma and impoverishment that many millions of people suffer each year, and reverse the trends laid out in this report."
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People stand by fallen trees on April 25 in Moroni after tropical storm Kenneth hit Comoros before heading to recently cyclone-ravaged Mozambique. IBRAHIM YOUSSOUF / AFP / Getty Images
Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province on Thursday as the strongest storm to ever hit the country, The Guardian reported. It struck with wind speeds of 140 miles per hour and was expected to raise waves 16 feet higher than usual and bring torrential rain.
<p>The storm comes little over a month after <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cyclone-idai-mozambique-malawi-zimbabwe-2631993550.html" target="_self">Cyclone Idai</a> killed more than 700 people, displaced tens of thousands and caused $1 billion in damage, making it the deadliest and costliest storm in Mozambique's history, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/25/africa/cyclone-kenneth-mozambique-evacuation-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. In the entire region, including Mozambique's neighbors Malawi and Zimbabwe, Idai killed more than 1,000 and forced millions from their homes, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/world/africa/cyclone-kenneth-mozambique.html?emc=edit_MBE_p_20190426&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=88631294ion%3DwhatElse§ion=whatElse&te=1" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p>
<p>"It's really an anomaly in the history of cyclones in this region. There's never been two storms this strong hit in the same year, let alone within five weeks of each other in Mozambique," meteorologist Eric Holthaus told The Guardian.</p>
<div id="ac0ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="64YKND1576663630"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1121714547918766080" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Satellite animation shows #CycloneKenneth's path after lashing Comoros island, killing 3, before reaching northern… https://t.co/GROQT1n9vN</div> — #Africa_eNCA (@#Africa_eNCA)<a href="https://twitter.com/Africa_eNCA/statuses/1121714547918766080">1556272563.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Kenneth has already killed one person in Mozambique, who was struck by a falling coconut tree in the city of Pemba, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48050859" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. The storm was downgraded to an ex-cyclone Friday as winds decreased, but France's meteorological agency predicts more than 23.6 inches of rain could fall over the next few days. That's nearly double the 10 days of rainfall that caused devastating <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> in the port city of Beira during Cyclone Idai.</p><p>It's the extreme rainfall that can be directly linked to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, Holthaus told The Guardian.</p><p>"We have very strong evidence that everywhere in the world, rainfall is getting more intense. So that means you can get the same amount of rainfall, but it just happens in a shorter period of time, because if the atmosphere is warmer then that will create more intense thunderstorms that rain out faster," Hotlhaus said. "We can directly link Kenneth with climate change for that reason. Not only is this an extremely intense rainfall event, globally, but it's being made worse because of climate change."</p><p>Cabo Delgado, where Kenneth struck, is 600 miles northeast of Beira. The region had never before in modern history been struck by a hurricane-force storm, The New York Times reported.</p><p>"This is another potential tragedy for Mozambique," <a href="https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/surviving-floods-and-cyclone-idai-malawi/" target="_blank">Oxfam</a> manager Dorothy Sang told The New York Times. "We're still struggling to scale up and meet the needs of everyone after the last cyclone. This will make it much harder."</p><p>Mozambique has already taken out a $118 million loan from the International Monetary Fund to help pay for recovery from Idai, The Guardian reported.</p><p>Sang said that since the region hit by Kenneth was not used to strong storms, residents would be less prepared for flooding. Further complicating matters is the fact that violence by Islamic militants has forced thousands of people to flee to camps for displaced persons in the region, BBC reported.</p><p>However, the region is less densely populated than the area impacted by Idai and has more elevation. In addition, the government evacuated 30,000 people from the storm's path. However, reports have said that thousands of homes have been flattened by the wind.</p><p>Before hitting Mozambique, Kenneth traveled north of the island of Comoros, killing three people and causing massive damage, The Guardian reported.</p>
<div id="0ef7e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PBTACP1576663630"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1121324442930561024" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Devastating images from #Comoros following #CyloneKenneth.
Homes and roads are damaged and destroyed, telephone p… https://t.co/diARynmsXa</div> — IFRC Africa (@IFRC Africa)<a href="https://twitter.com/IFRCAfrica/statuses/1121324442930561024">1556179555.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Mozambique's northern neighbor, Tanzania, has also responded to the storm by closing schools and businesses in parts of the south, BBC News reported.</p>
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