UN Human Cost of Disasters report blames climate crisis for catastrophic 2000-2019 period:- 7,348

Twice as many disasters worldwide as climate crisis worsens

UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction accuses governments of not doing enough to prevent climate hazards and calls for better preparation for looming disasters.

It seems climate change is largely to blame for a near doubling of natural disasters in the past 20 years.

This picture taken and released by the Vietnam News Agency on October 8, 2020

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said on Monday that a total of 7,348 major disaster events had occurred between 2000 and 2019, claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people and costing the global economy some $2.97 trillion.

The figure far outstrips the 4,212 major natural disasters recorded between 1980 and 1999, the UN office said in a new report entitled "The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019."

The sharp increase was mostly attributable to a rise in climate-related disasters, including extreme weather events like floods, drought and storms, the report said.

Extreme heat is proving especially deadly.

"We are wilfully destructive," UNDRR chief Mami Mizutori told reporters in a virtual briefing. 

"That is the only conclusion one can come to when reviewing disaster events over the last 20 years."