Losses from Natural Disasters Decline in 2009
Petra Löw | Mar 25, 2010In 2009, some 860 natural catastrophes
occurred worldwide.1 Given the 750 disasters registered in 2008, this
represented an increase of 15 percent.2 Last year had the fourth highest
number of events in the period from 1980 to 2009.3
Some 92 percent of last year’s events were weather-related disasters
(compared with 82 percent in 2008): 42 percent were storms, 38 percent
were floods, and 12 percent were other weather-related events, such as
heat and cold waves, winter damage, droughts, and wildfires. The other 8
percent of total catastrophes in 2009 were geophysical events like
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, or subsidence.4 This
percentage distribution is in line with the long-term averages for these
categories.5 (See Figure 1.)
In 2009, overall economic losses from natural disasters totaled about
$50 billion—the lowest since 2001—with insured losses at about $22
billion.6 (See Figure 2.) Some 88 percent of the total losses and 98
percent of the insured ones were weather-related.7 Only in the early
1980s and in the years 2000 and 2001 have overall losses been this low,
when adjusted for inflation.8 The natural catastrophe figures for 2009
were marked by losses due to severe weather in areas with a high
prevalence of insurance.9
To read more go to:
http://vitalsigns.worldwatch.org/vs-trend/losses-natural-disasters-decline-2009
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