Extreme weather events caused by climate change costs the global economy the equivalent of €136 billion per year, according to a study published in the specialist journal Nature Communications.
The study, which was reported on Monday by the British newspaper, The Guardian, maps the cost of such disasters for the first time.
The researchers, Professors Ilan Noy and Rebecca Newman, took a close look at the period between 2000 and 2019. According to their analysis, the damage caused by extreme weather conditions linked to climate change averaged about $143 billion dollars per year, although the figure varied from one year to the next.
This is also a considerable underestimate, the researchers explain, as there is virtually no data on the costs associated with disasters in poor countries. Nor does this figure total take into account the additional costs associated with reduced yields and rising sea levels.
Over the past two decades, 1.2 billion people have suffered climate-related damage. Storms such as Hurricane Harvey and Cyclone Nargis accounted for two-thirds of the overall cost, with 16% due to heat waves and 10% to drought and flooding.
The costliest years were 2003, when a heatwave hit Europe; 2008, when Cyclone Nargis swept through Burma; and 2010, when Somalia and Russia were hit by a drought and a heatwave respectively, the researchers say.
