Extreme Weather Cost Billions Worldwide in 2020, Says Study

Extreme weather in 2020 caused huge financial losses and loss of human life, according to a report by Christian Aid. Chalked up to "Climate Change", experts believe things will only get worse in the future. 

RELATED: NEW IRON-BASED CATALYST CONVERTS CARBON DIOXIDE INTO JET FUEL

2020 was very costly

Christian Aid's recent study lists 10 extreme weather events in 2020 that cost thousands in human lives and millions in insurance payouts. Six of these ten occurred in Asia alone, with floods in China and India causing in excess of $40 billion in damage. 

The study also noted that hurricanes and wildfires caused somewhere in the region of $60 billion in damage in the U.S. too in 2020.

The list of ten events ranged in cost from at least $1.5 billion, with nine others individually exceeding $5 billion each. 

But such events are not just about the financial costs that they incur. Human lives in the places affected were also severely impacted. 

For example, an unusually rainy monsoon season in Asia resulted in some of the most damaging storms in living memory. Over a period of a few months in 2020, heavy flooding in India resulted in more than 2,000 deaths, with millions of others displaced from their homes. 

China was also badly affected by these storms, with damages running up to $32 billion between June and October of 2020. The death toll, thankfully, appears to have been much less than for India.

Swarms of locusts also plagued Africa this year, resulting in $8.5 billion in lost and ruined crops and other vegetation. 

It is important to note, however, that Christian Aid does stress that its figures are estimates, and are likely to be underestimated. It is also important to understand that richer countries with more valuable real estate will see larger damages than poorer ones even for smaller events. 

But these are relatively "slow-moving" disaster events. The study also highlights some of the more dramatic extreme weather events too. 

For example, Cyclone Amphan, which it the Bay of Bengal in May 2020, caused an estimated $13 billion in just a few days. 

"These high temperatures had the characteristics of marine heatwaves that might have led to the rapid intensification of the pre-monsoon cyclones Amphan and Nisarga," he added.

South Sudan was also badly hit by floods, with 138 people killed and an entire year's crops completely devastated. 

It is these extreme weather events that will likely get worse going into the future. 2021 is, sadly, anticipated to be at least as extreme as 2020 but will likely be worse from an extreme weather standpoint. 

To this end, many experts hope that political leaders will finally sit up and take action in the coming years to help mitigate the worst impacts of extreme weather. 

"It is vital that 2021 ushers in a new era of activity to turn this climate change tide," said report author, Dr. Kat Kramer, from Christian Aid.

You can read the full Christian Aid study here.