Paris (AFP)
The ten costliest weather disasters of 2020 have almost reached $ 150 billion in insured damage, a figure higher than in 2019 which reflects the growing impact of global warming, according to a British NGO.
The ten disasters also claimed 3,500 lives and displaced more than 13.5 million people, according to Christian Aid's annual report.
From the mega-fires that ravaged Australia to serial hurricanes in the Caribbean, the true cost of 2020's extreme weather events, reinforced by warming, is actually much higher, with most of the damage uninsured, insists the NGO.
And unsurprisingly, poor countries have paid the heaviest price, with only 4% of the economic losses caused by extreme weather events insured, compared to 60% in rich countries, according to the report citing a recent study published in The Lancet. .
Weather catastrophes were of course ravaging the planet before the advent of man-made climatic disturbances, but the rise in temperature of at least 1.1 ° C since the start of the industrial era has increased their frequency and their impacts.
“Whether it's flooding in Asia, locusts in Africa or storms in Europe and America, climate change has continued to rage in 2020,” commented Kat Kramer, climate manager at Christian Aid.
Five of the costliest disasters of 2020 were linked to a particularly severe monsoon in Asia.
"The 2020 floods were among the worst in history in Bangladesh, with more than a quarter of the country underwater," said Shahjahan Mondal, climatologist at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
On the other hand, many of these disasters caused damage of at least $ 5 billion, such as Cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal in May, fires in the western United States during the summer. and fall, or those that ravaged Australia in January.
The record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season, with an unprecedented series of 30 storms powerful enough to name, has caused at least 400 deaths and $ 41 billion in damage in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean, according to Christian Aid.
Among the most significant damages of this year 2020, the NGO also notes two storms that swept through Europe causing a total of $ 5.9 billion in damage: Ciara in the United Kingdom and Ireland in February, and Alex in France and Italy in October.
The increase in climatic disasters corresponds to scientists' forecasts.
And advances in recent years in so-called "attribution" science now makes it possible to assess how often a particular event is more likely due to warming.
The Paris climate agreement plans to limit warming to well below 2 ° C, if possible 1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era, but the commitments to reduce greenhouse gases States are still insufficient to achieve these goals.
© 2020 AFP