In his speech to world leaders at the united nations summit on september 23, pulled a Greta Thunberg, a dramatic picture of the problem of climate change. Very concerned about what the future will bring. However, she also said something about the current situation, and stated, among other things, that ” I am one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying. . ”

and what, Exactly, Thunberg, is intended to be, I don't say anything about that. However, there is no doubt that many people today are suffering and dying due to weather-related events. Photos from the hurricane of Rage that was sweeping across the Bahamas on the 1st of september, and destroyed the houses of tens of thousands of low-income families, and may have cost the lives of more than 1,300 people, has confirmed it is in all its clearness. The question of the extent to which these natural disasters are the result of human climate change, which is not the subject of this article. However, the focus of these types of events give us the impression that more and more people these days than in the past, die in weather-related natural disasters. The question is whether it is correct or not, I will make clear the historical statistics.

It was a lot worse the past
the Centre for research on the epidemiology of disasters (CRED) at the Université Catholique de Louvain-compile annual statistics on the number of people killed in natural disasters, a statistic that dates back to the year 1900. This type of statistical data is, of course, subject to uncertainty. However, the most important sources of uncertainty are likely, first and foremost, an under-reporting of the number of the occurred death.

in any case, it is clear that the storms of the last century, took many lives, especially during the period 1920-70, when, according to the CRED statistics, on average, every 330 000 people are killed in weather-related incidents each year. A drought in the Soviet union and China in the 1920s, involved more than 4 million lives. When the Yangtze river flooded in 1931, and died about 3.3 million people and 100 million were left homeless. The drought, India 1965-67, and the cyclone of the Ganges delta, in 1970, resulted in a 1.5-million and 500, 000 deaths.

there is evidence that growing wealth has helped to make us less vulnerable to attack.

In the decades from 1970 to 2010, the number of dead in weather-related incidents are significantly lower, with an average of 40,000 per year. In the first decade of this century, the cyclone that devastated Myanmar in may 2008, be remembered very well, and the claimed 140 000 lives. However, over the past decade, there was also an unusually large earthquake, with the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, the second-worst earthquake of the modern era. The earthquakes in China and Pakistan, in 2008 and 2005, respectively, and the jordbävningsinducerade of the tsunami off Indonesia in 2004, a total of 680 000 lives.

A single event can change the photo
We know not yet the full story in the decade in which we find ourselves in, and the story clearly indicates that only a single event can change the picture completely. However, for a few years, 2011-18 show you the stats of IT in an average of 13 of the 312 deaths in weather-related incidents each year. These numbers should in no way be made light of. They bear witness to the unfathomable tragedy, which is mainly suffered by the poor people. Still, it is a fact that the number of deaths per year in the current decade is considerably lower than what we've seen over the past few decades, and is not, at least if we look at the last hundred years.
* Including deaths due to droughts, storms, hurricanes, forest fires, extreme cold and heat, as well as the usa.Source: Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), don't Forget about the expansion of the population
You should also take into account that the increase of population, means that many more people are exposed than in the past when a storm is coming. In the year 2018, there were approximately 7.6 billion people on the planet, compared to 1.6 million at the turn of the last century. During the first half of the last century, there were an average of 153 deaths per year per million population. In the second half, that figure had dropped to 32, and so far in the current decade, the number had fallen further to 2. The graphic shows the development.

and So we have been going through a period where fewer and fewer people have lost their lives as a result of weather-related events. There is evidence that growing wealth has helped to make us less vulnerable to attack. The key factors are probably the more sturdy buildings, better warning systems and better-developed infrastructures, also in the international market, ensuring that food, drugs, and more quickly reach the affected people.

As many scientists are now warning us that the climate in the future, it can be difficult to deal with, it can be seen that we, along with the continuation of the prosperity, be better able to guard against weather-related events. The continued growth of the wealth of the world's poorest regions are likely to be important in this regard.

”How dare you?” see the full Greta Thunberg's speech at the united nations


Researchers:

the central bureau of Statistics of Norway.

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