Weather disasters have caused sky-high costs in 2021. Some of them have led to damage worth several hundred billion kroner, according to an aid organization.
British Christian Aid has released a new report covering the 15 worst extreme events this year.
According to the report, ten of the most extreme weather disasters have cost more than NOK 13 billion each. Hurricane Ida, which devastated the United States in August, cost 576 billion kroner, while the floods in Germany and other European countries in July cost 381 billion kroner.
More expensive this year than last year
Together, they estimate that the sum for all the work disasters this year is over NOK 1,500 billion. That is more than NOK 170 billion more than the corresponding costs in 2020.
But these numbers are probably even higher in reality, since most cost estimates only include insured losses, according to Christian Aid.
Each year, the organization calculates the cost of various natural disasters, such as floods, fires, heat waves and extreme cold, according to insurance requirements.
Several have made calculations of this. The insurance company Swiss Re concluded that natural disasters and extreme weather have led to damage worth NOK 2,226 billion in 2021.
Climate changes
Many of the disasters were probably partly caused by climate change, but it cannot be stated that all of them were. The report from Christian Aid points out that an increasingly warmer globe is leading to more intense typhoons and hurricanes.
Christian Aid also writes that the effects of man-made climate change are reflected in several of the natural disasters.
They state that this year’s ten most extreme weather disasters led to at least 1,075 people dying, while 1.3 million had to flee their homes.
Rike Vs. poor
The registered costs after the devastation are highest in rich countries, as there are higher property prices there. In addition, most people in these countries have insurance.
But some of the most devastating natural disasters in 2021 have led to major consequences for the inhabitants of poor countries. One example is the flood in South Sudan, which affected around 800,000 people.
Here and in other poor countries, many have lost their homes, and even more have had to evacuate. At the same time, some countries and regions have been affected by food shortages due to drought.
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