8/20/2019 New Study Links Climate Change to Mounting Natural Disasters

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New Study Links Climate Change to Mounting Natural Disasters

MANILA, Philippines, 27 Noem!er 2"#$ —More frequent floods, storms, heat waves, and droughts are

connected to greater extremes in temperatures and rainfall, according to Global Increase in Climate-Related

 Disasters, a new study from Independent Evaluation at the Asian Development Bank. In a globalanalysis spanning the last four decades, the study shows that the rise in climate-related disasters islinked not only to peoples increased e!posure and vulnerability, but also to changes in temperature

and rainfall resulting from rising greenhouse gases.

"he study, published as an ADB Economics #orking $aper, is timely given the recent warnings by the%& 'ational (ceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other climate monitors that globaltemperature is already halfway to the )two degree warming* threshold for limiting catastrophic climaticimpacts. +eleased ust ahead of the %nited 'ations climate change meetings in $aris in December,these findings add fresh urgency to cutting emissions.

"hree implications are inherent in these findings. irst, climate impacts are not ust concerns for thedistant future, but are already being felt. &econd, heavy damages from climate-related disasters arebeing incurred by all countries, rich and poor, although the death toll has been especially high amongthe poor who are more likely to live in harms way, such as in flood-prone areas. And third, it is a

mistake to think that climate actionsuch as switching from dirty fossil fuels to cleaner renewablesourceswill hold back economic growth.

)$olicymakers and economic advisors have long held the view that climate action is a drain oneconomic growth*, says /inod "homas, coauthor of the study and director general of IndependentEvaluation at ADB. )But the reality is the opposite0 the vast damage from climate-related disasters isan increasing obstacle to economic growth and wellbeing*.

"he study finds that the fre1uency of intense climate-related disasters over the past four decades isassociated with population e!posure, measured by population density and with peoples vulnerabilityto these events, measured by their income levels. It also confirms the importance of climatic changesin making ha2ards more e!treme0deviations in precipitation are positively linked to disasters from

floods and storms.

)"he evidence is telling us that ha2ards of nature are increasingly turning into disasters because ofhuman action*, says +amon 3ope2coauthor of the study and professor of economics at the %niversityof 4hile. )#e found that disasters are e!acerbated by climatic impacts at the local level as well as byclimate change globally*.

Disaster risk estimates in the study illustrate some potentially big impacts. or a country facing theaverage of nearly one climate-related disaster a year, if 4(5 concentrations continue to rise by the

current annual rate of 5 parts per million 6or by 7.89: from the already high ;77 parts per million, thatwould see a doubling of the fre1uency of floods and storms in auritius.

&cientific evidence has already established the association between greenhouse gas emissions andchanges in climatic conditions. "he findings in this study go further by adding a connection betweenclimate change and the fre1uency of intense natural disastersafter taking into account thecontribution of density of population and peoples income.

 As such, the study aims to focus attention on the human actions related to natural disasters. )"he

http://www.adb.org/publications/global-increase-climate-related-disastershttp://www.adb.org/publications/global-increase-climate-related-disastershttp://www.adb.org/publications/global-increase-climate-related-disastershttp://www.adb.org/publications/global-increase-climate-related-disastershttp://www.adb.org/publications/global-increase-climate-related-disasters

8/20/2019 New Study Links Climate Change to Mounting Natural Disasters

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