Publication Date April 26, 2022 | Climate Nexus Hot News

Increasing Human-Driven Global Disasters Risk A 'Spiral Of Self-Destruction'

Worldwide
FILE - A car is flipped over after a tornado tore through the area in Arabi, La., Tuesday, March 22, 2022, in a part of the city that had been heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina 17 years earlier. A United Nations report released on Monday, April 25, 2022, says disasters are on the rise are just going to get worse. A new UN report says the number of disasters, from climate change to COVID-19, are going to jump to about 560 a year by 2030. (Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - A car is flipped over after a tornado tore through the area in Arabi, La., Tuesday, March 22, 2022, in a part of the city that had been heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina 17 years earlier. A United Nations report released on Monday, April 25, 2022, says disasters are on the rise are just going to get worse. A new UN report says the number of disasters, from climate change to COVID-19, are going to jump to about 560 a year by 2030. (Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Human activity is driving an increase in medium- to large-scale disasters, many of which are fueled by climate change, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction warned in its global assessment report this morning. Between 1970 and 2000, there were about 90 to 100 disasters per year, a number that rose to 400 by 2015 and could reach 560 (or 1.5 per day) by 2030. Extreme heatwaves will be three times more frequent in 2030 than in 2001 with 30% more droughts. "The world needs to do more to incorporate disaster risk in how we live, build and invest, which is setting humanity on a spiral of self-destruction," Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, told reporters. "We must turn our collective complacency to action." (ReutersAP)

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