2010: Top Year For Natural Disasters

SustainableBusiness.com News

As Republicans move to prevent the US EPA from regulating carbon emissions, and countries drop their carbon trading schemes because of lack of international action, extreme climate-change related weather events are becoming commonplace.

Australia is the latest casualty, as it begins to recover from its unprecedented torrential flood. State Treasurer Andrew Fraser calls it a "disaster of biblical proportions." The flood raised water levels 30 feet above normal.

Military aircraft have been deployed to bring food and other supplies to residents, where homes and roads are submerged.

The floods, which forced 200,000 people to evacuate, have created an inland sea in an area known for cattle, sugar farms and coal mines.

2010 Top Year for Natural Disasters  

The world coped with numerous unprecedented disasters in 2010, including earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, floods in Pakistan and China, and forest fires in Russia. Almost 300,000 people died. Munich Re, the world's leading insurer, estimates the costs at $130 billion, up from $50 billion in 2009.

"The high number of weather-related natural catastrophes and record temperatures both globally and in different regions of the world provide further indications of advancing climate change," said Munich Re.

In fact, 2010 was the second worst year in history, after 1980. 950 natural disasters were recorded last year, compared to an average of 785 over each of the past 10 years.

Munich Re noted that 2010 saw one of the most severe hurricane seasons in the past 100 years, but most of the storms luckily were over the open sea.