Extreme weather killed 1.38L Indians from 1970 to 2021: WMO

Karam Prakash

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New Delhi, May 23

Over 1.38 lakh people died in the country due to extreme weather, climate and water-related events between 1970 and 2021. It has been revealed in new findings by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). As many as 573 disasters were reported in India during the period.

The WMO shared the new findings on the eve of the quadrennial World Meteorological Congress, which opened on Monday. The event aims to initiate a high-level dialogue on accelerating and scaling-up action to ensure that the early warning services reach everyone globally by the end of 2027.

In Asia, around 9.84 lakh deaths incurring US$ 1.4 trillion in economic losses took place during the period. Floods were the leading cause of the reported economic losses.

Globally, according to the report, there were 11, 778 reported disasters attributed to weather, climate and water extremes between 1970 and 2021. They caused 2,087,229 deaths and US$ 4.3 trillion in economic losses. Flood-related disasters were the most prevalent. However, in terms of impact, tropical cyclones were the leading cause of both reported deaths and economic losses worldwide. Over the last two decades, however, extreme temperature has killed more people than any other natural calamity.

“Though economic losses have soared, the improved early warnings and coordinated disaster management have slashed the human casualty toll over the past half a century,” said WMO.