Extreme weather has made 2005 the costliest year on record. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and drought cost a staggering US$200bn in economic losses this year, according to preliminary research released at the recent international climate conference in Montreal (see "Hope on the horizon for a cleaner, cooler atmosphere" in Business).
The research, conducted by the Munich Re Foundation, shows a jump from $145bn in 2004. The foundation is part of international reinsurance company Munich Re, which has repeatedly warned about the threat to the world's economy that global warming poses .
Of the $200bn in damages, $70bn was covered by insurance companies, compared with $45bn last year.
Most of the losses are a result of hurricanes, particularly Katrina and Wilma, in the US and Mexico. Hurricane Wilma, recorded as the strongest hurricane since 1850, caused about $15bn in economic losses, of which about $10bn was insured.
The damage caused by Katrina, the sixth-strongest hurricane on record, was greater. Losses are estimated at over $125bn; about $30bn was insured.
Munich Re Foundation CE Thomas Loster, a member of the finance initiative of the UN Environment Programme, says 2005's weather was exceptional in many ways:
"There is a powerful indication from these figures that we are moving from predictions of the likely impacts of climate change, to proof that it is already fully under way," he says.
"Above all, these are humanitarian tragedies which show us that, as a result of our impact on the climate, we are making people and communities everywhere more vulnerable to weather-related natural disasters."
Loster released the foundation's report at the UN's Montreal convention, which addressed what should be done after the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions .
The conference took place at a time when the number and extent of natural disasters had worsened, prompting scientists to blame global warming for the planet's instability.
Other records for 2005 include Europe's first mainland hurricane, Vince, and the highest recorded instance of rainfall: 944 mm in 24 hours in Mumbai, India.
During last December's tsunami, about 100 000 people died in Indonesia alone, and another 5m were displaced in the region.
The immediate costs of disasters are only the tip of the iceberg as the economic effects are expected to plague countries for years to come.
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan estimated at the time that it would take up to 10 years to rebuild some of the worst-affected regions of the tsunami. It was the largest disaster the UN had ever had to deal with, he said.
This year, Pakistan suffered the worst earthquake in its history, in October, with over 70 000 fatalities and a trail of damage affecting remote villages in Kashmir. Central Africa, Afghanistan and China also have suffered earthquakes, though they were smaller.
In 2000, the UN launched a strategy to promote awareness of disasters and disaster reduction. In the aftermath of the tsunami, the UN hosted a conference on disaster reduction in Japan. It adopted the Hyogo Declaration and a framework for action that would cover disaster prevention and management between 2005 and 2015.
UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland says the world faces multiple threats: "In addition to natural threats, we now face threats of our own collective making: global warming, environmental degradation and uncontrolled urbanisation."
Millions live in dense, poorly planned megacities with little infrastructure and in seismically active locations, he says.
In 1999 Annan wrote about the world's increased vulnerability to natural disasters, and the political will that was needed to respond. He also said disasters were not as "natural" as they were labelled. "What we have witnessed over the past decades is not nature's variation, but a clear upward trend caused by human activities," he said.
The spiralling human and economic costs of disasters have made the call for a plan to prevent climate change more pertinent. The UN last month adopted a general assembly resolution on an international strategy for disaster reduction that will shape prevention and assistance efforts.
