Claim: “Fewer people die in climate disasters than ever so climate change can't be happening".”
Quick Reply
It’s a success story that fewer people die in climate disasters. This is due to early warning systems, better buildings and rising wealth. But it shows that adaptation works, not that climate change isn’t a threat.
Disasters are becoming more frequent and more costly, and heatwaves, the deadliest extreme in Europe, are often missing from these figures. And there are limits to how far we can adapt as warming continues.
More Detail
Fewer deaths, more disasters. The World Meteorological Organization found that weather-related disasters increased five-fold over 50 years, while deaths fell almost three-fold, thanks to better early warnings and disaster management. That’s real progress, but it means we’re working harder just to stand still against a rising threat.
Heat deaths are often not counted. Disaster figures mainly count deaths from floods, storms and droughts. Heatwaves kill quietly, mostly older people at home, and are often missing. In Europe’s record-hot summer of 2022 alone, more than 61,000 people died from the heat. That’s more than three times the yearly global disaster death toll often quoted by those making this claim.
The costs keep rising. Global insured losses from natural disasters have topped $100 billion for six years in a row, according to reinsurer Swiss Re. Those costs end up in insurance premiums, taxes and food prices, and some homes are becoming uninsurable. This graphic from Our World in Data clearly shows a rising trend.
The poorest are most exposed. The WMO found that more than 90% of deaths from weather-related disasters occur in developing countries, the places with the fewest resources to adapt - which means people are more likely to be forced to leave their homes.
Adaptation has limits. Warning systems can get people out of the way of a flood or storm, but they can’t stop crops failing in repeated droughts, or make cities liveable in extreme heat. The faster the world warms, the harder adaptation becomes, and the more it costs.
