Disasters 'evidence of climate change'

Published on Monday 3 January 2011 13:58

REINSURANCE giant Munich Re has calculated that extreme natural catastrophes in 2010, including severe earthquakes, floods and heat waves, led to the sixth-highest total of insurers' losses since 1980 and showed evidence of climate change.

Munich Re said in its annual review that insured losses came in at almost 24 billion this year, up from 14bn in 2009. It said total economic losses, including losses not covered by insurance, rose to 83bn from last year's 32bn.

"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," the company said.

Altogether a total of 950 natural disasters were recorded last year, including five "great natural catastrophes": earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and central China, a heat wave in Russia and floods in Pakistan.

This total makes 2010 the year with the second-highest number of natural catastrophes since 1980, according to Munich Re. It wrote that 2010 also saw an exceptionally high number of fatalities. More than 220,000 people died in the Haiti earthquake in January, one of the biggest human tolls in the past 100 years.

The heat wave in Russia between July and September led to burning forests and the death of 56,000 people from pollution. The fires threatened nuclear facilities and areas where the ground had been contaminated by the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl.

In Pakistan, moonsoon floods following covered a quarter of the country for weeks. The overall loss was 6bn- "an extremely high amount for Pakistan's emerging economy", the annual report said.