Disasters are expected to become more common: UN
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37.6 million more people will be living in conditions of extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of the effects of climate change and natural disasters, a new report estimates.
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Officers are evacuating victims of natural disasters in Jakarta, Jan 2021 (BNPB)
The UN warned, on Tuesday, that humanity is suffering from a "broken perception of risk", spurring us into activities and behaviors that cause climate change and a surging number of disasters around the globe.
The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, or UNDRR, discovered in a new report that 350 to 500 medium- to large-scale disasters occurred globally every year over the last two decades.
That is five times the average over the previous three decades, according to the report.
And, as the climate changes, disasters caused by drought, extreme temperatures, and devastating flooding are expected to become more common in the future.
The report projected that by 2030, we will be experiencing 560 disasters around the world every year -- or 1.5 disasters every day on average.
In a statement, UNDRR said that the sharp rise in disasters globally could be attributed to a "broken perception of risk based on optimism, underestimation, and invincibility".
This, it claimed, had resulted in policy, finance, and development decisions that exacerbate vulnerabilities and endanger people.
Furthermore, disasters around the world have cost roughly $170 billion (160 billion euros) per year over the last decade, the report added.
However, the majority of that is borne by lower-income countries, which lose one percent of their national GDP to disasters on average each year, compared to 0.1 to 0.2 percent in wealthier nations.
The Asia and Pacific regions suffer the greatest economic losses, the report stressed.
And as the number of disasters rises, so will the costs.
The report estimated that 37.6 million more people will be living in conditions of extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of the effects of climate change and natural disasters.
