Major Climate Disasters Cost the U.S. $165 Billion in 2022

A massive hurricane, a historic drought, and 16 other major disasters across the US collectively racked up $165 billion in damages and killed at least 474 people in 2022, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) analysis published Tuesday. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information track the biggest of the big disasters, each one costing at least $1 billion in damage. 2022 was the nation’s third most expensive year for billion-dollar disasters by NOAA’s ranking, following 2017 ($373.2 billion) and 2005 ($253.5 billion). Billion-dollar disasters are the new normal in the US and the rest of the world. That’s because people continue to move and build in risky areas — and the risk itself increases as the planet gets warmer, wetter and more prone to extremes. Severe weather events and other disasters globally last year cost roughly $120 billion in insured losses and $270 billion in uninsured losses, according to estimates by insurance giant Munich Re. And all these disasters played out during the fifth-warmest year on record, estimates the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In the US, the single most damaging event was Hurricane Ian, which caused $112.9 billion in damages. The storm was also the most expensive disaster for insured losses worldwide, according to Munich Re. Ian rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane that slammed into sout...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized bloomberg wire climate change extreme weather healthscienceclimate Source Type: news