Hyderabad: Extreme weather events reportedly caused more than 7 lakh deaths in a span of 30 years. According to the Climate Risk Index, published by Germanwatch, more than 7,65,000 people lost their lives worldwide due to more than 9,400 extreme weather events between 1993 and 2022.
Based on extreme weather event data from the International Disaster Database (Em-dat) and socio-economic data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the newest edition of the Climate Risk Index analyses the extent to which countries have been affected by climate-related extreme weather events.
As per the report, such events also caused economic damages worth $4.2 trillion-- adjusted for inflation. Among EU states, Italy, Spain, and Greece are reportedly among the ten most affected countries worldwide over the past three decades. Meanwhile, Dominica is listed as the most affected country in the world, followed by China, Honduras, and Myanmar.
India among 10 most affected countries
Climate Risk Index puts India in sixth place among the 10 most affected countries, showing high absolute fatalities and economic losses in addition to high absolute and relative numbers of people affected. The report highlights the country's increasingly frequent extreme weather events over the past three decades, including floods, heat waves, cyclones, and droughts.
It also takes note of cyclones in Gujarat (1998), Odisha (1999), Hudhud (2014), and Amphan (2020), as well as major floods in northern India (1993) and Uttarakhand (2013), in addition to severe floods in 2019.
"Recurring and unusually intense heat waves, all with temperatures around 50°C, claimed many lives in 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2015," the report said. "There were more than 400 extreme weather events in the three decades, causing losses of nearly USD 180 billion (inflation-adjusted) and at least 80,000 fatalities."
Countries most affected by climate-related extreme weather events
The Climate Risk Index for countries is based on six indicators, which include fatalities, people affected (injured and otherwise adversely affected), and economic losses (in absolute and relative terms). According to the report, the countries most affected by such events between 1993 and 2022 are as follows:
- Dominica
- China
- Honduras
- Myanmar
- Italy
- India
- Greece
- Spain
- Vanuatu
- Philippines
Overview of fatalities, affected people, and economic damage for the six event types for 1993–2022:
| Hazard | Fatalities | Affected (billion) | Economic loss (trillion USD, inflation-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | 25,026 | 1.87 | 0.273 |
| Flood | 205,000 | 2.91 | 1.33 |
| Heat wave | 225,600 | 0.005 | 0.032 |
| Storm | 264,000 | 0.97 | 2.33 |
| Wildfire | 363 | 0.018 | 0.163 |
| Other | 43,248 | 0.105 | 0.065 |
In 2022 alone, the countries most affected by climate-related extreme weather events are as follows:
- Pakistan
- Belize
- Italy
- Greece
- Spain
- Puerto Rico
- The United States of America
- Nigeria
- Portugal
- Bulgaria
Overview of fatalities, affected people, and economic damage for the six event types in 2022:
| Hazard | Fatalities | Affected (million) | Economic loss (billion USD, inflation-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | 2,601 | 107.35 | 35.65 |
| Flood | 8,050 | 57.55 | 46.78 |
| Heat wave | 61,782 | 0.029 | 0 |
| Storm | 1,605 | 16.98 | 137.43 |
| Wildfire | 76 | 0.245 | 1.12 |
| Other | 418 | 0.148 | 0 |
The impact in the Global South could be more than what publicly available data suggests
Germanwatch says that the report is based on the best publicly available historical data set on the impacts of extreme weather events. Since such events and their impacts are often underreported in Global South countries because of data quality, coverage challenges, and data gaps, the ranking may less accurately capture these impacts and how Global South countries are affected, it adds.
Laura Schaefer, co-author of the Climate Risk Index and Head of the International Climate Policy Division at Germanwatch, emphasised that the climate crisis is becoming a global security risk and must be tackled with bold multilateral actions.
"The past three decades show that countries in the Global South are particularly affected by extreme weather events. If the data from these countries were as comprehensive as the data from many Global North countries, an even greater degree of economic and human effects might become visible," Schaefer said.
She warned that we are entering a critical and unpredictable phase of the climate crisis, which will increasingly affect social developments and security for mankind globally.
