A recent study highlights that climate change has caused damage amounting to $391 million daily over the past two decades. Extreme weather events such as wildfires, heatwaves, and droughts, driven by global warming, have led to annual costs exceeding $100 billion from 2000 to 2019. Of this, $143 billion each year is attributed to climate change, with 63% of the cost related to human fatalities.
Significant losses were recorded in 2008, 2003, and 2010 due to high mortality events. For example, Tropical Cyclone Nargis in 2008 caused over 80,000 deaths in Myanmar.
In 2003, a severe heatwave in Europe resulted in 70,000 deaths, while 2010 saw deadly heatwaves in Russia and a drought in Somalia.
Recent years have seen escalating extreme weather impacts. The summer of 2023 was the hottest on record, with extreme heat waves fueling devastating wildfires across Europe and the U.S., including in Maui, Hawaii.
Extreme Weather Events and Rising Global Temperatures Drive Record-Breaking Losses, With Significant Implications for Future Adaptation and PolicyAdditionally, the active El Niño pattern is expected to bring wetter conditions to regions like northern Alaska and the Gulf Coast.
The study notes that these figures likely underestimate the true costs of climate change due to challenges in quantifying indirect impacts like productivity losses, mental health effects, and disruptions to education and employment. Inadequate data from lower-income countries also contributes to this underestimation.
Other reports, such as from the World Meteorological Organization, highlight that from 1970 to 2021, climate disasters resulted in 2 million deaths and $4.3 trillion in economic losses, mainly in developing nations.
Despite international efforts like the Paris Agreement to limit global warming, current projections suggest a 66% chance that global temperatures will exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels within the next five years, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced adaptation and mitigation strategies.