Are Natural Disasters Getting Worse?

Every week, the Wonder Newsroom asks our community to pose questions on topics confronting our world today.

In a ranking of the countries hit by the highest # of weather-related disasters, the United States comes in 1st place 🥇

Just last year, the US experienced twenty billion-dollar weather & climate-related disasters, putting 2021 in 2nd place for the country's most disasters in a calendar year, behind the record twenty-two seperate billion-dollar events in 2020.

As Hurricane Ian bears down on Florida, 33% of Puerto Ricans are still without power 10-days on from Hurricane Fiona's landfall on September 19th– the worst to hit the Caribbean archipelago since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Still, Puerto Rico may actually see its easiest hurricane season (which runs from June 1–November 30) for years to come; According to the Global Climate Index, the US territory is the “most affected country” by climate change more than anywhere else in the world.

Observed/projected future increases in certain types of extreme weather–such as tornadoes, heavy rainfall, wildfires, hurricane intensity, & extreme heat– can be directly linked to a warming climate.

This week, Wonder explores the relationship between climate change & natural disasters.

NATURAL DISASTERS, BY THE NUMBERS:

  • 23.7M people were globally displaced due to natural disasters in 2021, 40% of which were children.

  • 32°F maximum increase in average temperature in Puerto Rico from 1824-2020.

  • 90% of deaths as a result of natural disasters takes place in low-income countries.

  • 332 natural disasters in the US since 1980 have exceeded $1 billion in overall damages/costs.

Chris ConnorsClimate Change, Global Warming, Natural Disasters, Hurricanes