THE CLIMATE CHANGED WORLD IS NOW 5 TIMES MORE DANGEROUS

Eight ways climate change is making the world more dangerous; Disasters including storms, floods and heatwaves have increased fivefold since the 1970s, UN finds

Suzanne Goldenberg, 14 July 2014, UK Guardian

“…The world already is nearly five times as dangerous and disaster prone as it was in the 1970s, because of the increasing risks brought by climate change, according to [Atlas Of Mortality And Economic Losses From Weather, Climate And Water Extremes (1970–2012) from] the World Meteorological Organisation…The first decade of the 21st century saw 3,496 natural disasters from floods, storms, droughts and heat waves…nearly five times as many [climate change influenced] disasters as the 743 catastrophes reported during the 1970s…Flooding and storms are also taking a bigger bite out of the economy. But heat waves…[which] didn't even register as a threat in the 1970s…[were, by 2010, one] of the leading causes of deaths in natural disasters, along with storms. In Russia alone, more than 55,000 people died as a result of heat wave in 2010…Disasters were about 5.5 times more expensive by 2010 than they were in the 1970s, and most of that was because of the rising losses due to floods. The cost of disasters rose to $864bn (£505bn) in the last decade…” click here for more

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