Global losses from extreme weather events amount to $16 million per hour, according to a study

By: ClimaInfo, 17 de outubro de 2023

Translated by: Ana Loureiro

source:Chris Gallagher / Unsplash 

The climate expenditure from 2000 to 2019 was $143 billion annually, with $90 billion in monetary human costs, in addition to the loss of lives.

The damages caused by extreme weather events cost about $16 million per hour between 2000 and 2019. This calculation comes from a study published in Nature Communications, which takes into account material losses – direct monetary damages – and the deaths caused by these natural disasters, associated with the concept of Value of a Statistical Life (VSL).

Thus, the researchers found that the majority of costs from extreme events attributable to the climate crisis are related to human losses. The total climate expenditure during the period analyzed was $143 billion per year. And the equivalent of $90 billion annually, or 63% of the total, are estimated monetary human costs – in addition to the humanitarian cost, which is the loss of lives, as highlighted by Folha.

To arrive at this result, the experts examined data from 185 climate events made available by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). First, they analyzed how climate changes contributed to the occurrence of these weather events. Then, they cross-referenced this information with economic data provided by the International Science Council and the World Bank, as detailed by the World Economic Forum, Globo Rural, and Fox.

The researchers claimed their methods could calculate funding requirements for the loss and damage fund proposed at COP27 in 2022. This fund aims to aid poorer countries in recovering from extreme climate disasters.It could also quickly determine the specific climate cost of individual catastrophes, enabling faster fund disbursement, as explained by The Guardian.

“The main number is $140 billion per year. Firstly, it’s already a significant figure. Professor Ilan Noy of Victoria University in New Zealand, who conducted the study with colleague Rebecca Newman, noted that these quantifications seem to underestimate the impact of climate change. This observation comes when comparing them to the standard cost assessments of climate change using computer models.