Huge Damage of Climate Change Linked Extreme Disasters in 2021
Beside the pandemic of COVID-19, the year 2021 would be accounted as one of the most devastated year caused by climate change linked events. According to the study of the charity Christian Aid, there were fifteen extreme weather events occurred around the world and there were 10 disasters that each caused more than $1.5bn of damage.
From the events listed happen in 2021, storms and floods played a major role for the damages which totally costed around 170.3 billion dollars. Hurricane Ida which hit the US in August was top of the list costing 65 billion dollars with 95 deaths and 14,000 displacement of people and the widespread flooding across Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg in July was the second most financial costly event for it costed 43 billion dollars with 240 deaths. Cold wave in France in April caused great agricultural losses, in particular to vineyards, leading to 5.6 billion dollars of economic lost. Floods in Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, China, Philippines, Japan, and Canada also caused huge damages.
Not every extreme weather event is caused by or linked to climate change. However, scientists have reported clearer evidence of exploring the connections. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the first part of its sixth assessment report in August. The study mentions that “the proportion of intense tropical cyclones, average peak tropical cyclone wind speeds, and peak wind speeds of the most intense tropical cyclones will increase on the global scale with increasing global warming”.
In COP26, the loss and damage caused by climate-related events bring about issue of financial support for developing countries who are getting damaged by the disasters. However, a fund to help people of the countries was not set up. Therefore, according to the loss and damage mentioned above, the fund should be a global priority in 2022.
Reference
1. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59761839
2. https://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/our-work/counting-cost-2021-year-climate-breakdown
Writers: Issara Poljungreed
Chalermluck Dissayapanya
Capacity Building and Outreach Office
Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization)
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
