Disasters worsened by climate change take hundreds of lives

By admin3485, 3 November 2019

The biggest and most damaging hurricanes are now three times more frequent than they were 100 years ago, say researchers.

one of the big questions that scientists have wrestled with is how to compare storm events from different eras. Is the increase in financial damages recorded over the last century simply down to the fact there are now more people living in the paths of hurricanes, who are generally wealthier?

Using a new method of calculating the destruction, the scientists say the increase in frequency is “unequivocal”.Previous attempts to isolate the impact of climate change on hurricanes have often came up with conflicting results.

But the new study says the increase in damage caused by these big cyclones is linked by global warming. Hurricanes or tropical cyclones are one of the most destructive natural disasters. The damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was estimated to be $125bn, roughly 1% of US GDP.

The scientists involved believe their new method is solid and gives a more accurate picture of what is happening with the worst storms. “The new method of looking at the frequencies is really robust,” said Aslak Grinsted, from the University of Copenhagen, who carried out the study.

 

Yet the evidence for humanity’s role in changing the climate continues to mount, and its consequences are increasingly difficult to ignore. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations now top 408 parts per million, a threshold the planet hasn’t seen in millions of years.

Greenhouse gaz emissions reached a record high in 2018.

Disasters worsened by climate change have taken hundreds of lives, destroyed thousands of homes, and cost billions of dollars.