According to the charity Christian Aid, which includes more than 41 churches in the United Kingdom, Hurricane Ida alone, which hit the United States last August and killed 95 people, cost the American economy $ 65 billion.
The floods that swept most of Europe cost $43 billion and killed 240 people, while floods in China’s Henan Province killed 320 people and damaged $17.5 billion, as well as displacing more than a million people.
The report also noted the winter storm that left Texas without electricity for several days, with costs amounting to about $23 billion.
Christian Aid said that although the financial impact of natural disasters is usually higher in developed nations because property values are higher, some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2021 affected many poor countries.
In this regard, he noted that South Sudan suffered from terrible floods that forced more than 850,000 people, many of whom were previously displaced, to flee their homes, while drought continues to ravage East Africa.
It also mentions Cyclone Yas that devastated India and Bangladesh last May, and the drought that lowered the waters of the Parana River in South America, and threatens the livelihoods of millions of people in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
The costs of climate change have been exorbitant this year, both in terms of staggering financial losses and in terms of deaths and displacement of people around the world, said Kat Kramer, head of climate policy at Christian Aid and author of the report.
In the expert’s opinion, despite the fact that some progress was made at the Climate Summit held last November in Glasgow, Scotland, it is clear that humanity is not on the right track to ensure a safe and prosperous world.
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