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Climate change causes a huge toll of extreme weather disasters in 2021
Climate change-Flooding/Pixabay

The BBC reported that a new report showed weather events, linked to a changing climate, brought misery to millions around the world in 2021.

It said that the study, from the charity Christian Aid, identified 10 extreme events that each caused more than $1.5bn of damage.

According to the study, the biggest financial impacts were from Hurricane Ida which hit the US in August and flooding in Europe in July.

The slow-moving hurricane saw thousands of residents in Louisiana evacuated out of its path.

Representative image/Flooding-Pixabay
Representative image/Flooding-Pixabay

That storm brought massive rainfall across a number of states and cities, with New York issuing a flash-flood emergency alert for the first time.

Around 95 people died, with the economic losses estimated at $65bn.

The second most financial costly event was the widespread flooding across Germany, France and other European countries in July.

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The speed and intensity of the water overwhelmed defences and 240 people lost their lives. Reported damages were around $43bn.

The report also documents many other events where the financial impact is harder to ascertain, but where the impact on people is significant.

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Flooding in South Sudan displaced over 800,000 people while 200,000 had to move to escape Cyclone Tauktae which hit India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives in May.

Report author Dr Kat Kramer from Christian Aid said: "That's a huge human impact."

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"Obviously, losing your home, your livelihoods, and everything, and not having the resources to rebuild that is incredibly tough. Whereas at least if you have insurance, you have some mechanism for building that back."

The report highlights the need for increased efforts on curbing emissions of carbon dioxide to reduce future weather related impacts. It is also calling on global climate diplomats to put their money where their mouth is and help poorer countries that suffer huge economic losses.

Source: BBC