Climate Costs in 2018: Top 10 Disasters Cost $85 Billion

With 2018 having just drawn to a close, some organizations have begun to tally the staggering climate-related costs of a year featuring severe drought, heat, fires, floods and storms around the world. Ten of the biggest disasters cost at least $85 billion in total damages, according to a recent report by the United Kingdom-based organization Christian Aid.

Ten of the biggest climate disasters cost at least 
$85 billion in total damages, according to 
a recent report by the United Kingdom-based 
organization Christian Aid.

The report, “Counting the Cost: A Year of Climate Breakdown,” looked into events including catastrophic flooding in Kerala, India to devastating wildfires in California, extreme weather events exacerbated by a warming climate. Christian Aid, which works to eradicate global poverty, identifies the top 10 climate-related disasters of 2018 costing more than a billion dollars each. Hurricanes Florence and Michael and the California wildfires in November topped the list, marking yet another expensive year of extreme weather for the United States.

“The year has once again featured extremes of weather made worse by human-induced climate change, with major consequences, costs, and human suffering,” said Dr. Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Read the Climate Liability News story by Dana Drugmand  - “Climate Costs in 2018: Top 10 Disasters Cost $85 Billion.”