Hurricane Milton, which swept through the US, was one of the two most expensive disasters of the year (Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images).
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Climate disasters generate exceptionally high losses in 2024: Munich Re
By Jean-Philippe LACOUR
Climate change fueled natural disasters that caused $320 billion in losses last year, German reinsurance giant Munich Re said Thursday, warning that “the climate machine of our planet is shifting into a higher gear.”
The value of insured losses totaled $140 billion (136 billion euros) in the past 12 months, making 2024 the third-highest total since 1980, Munich Re said in a report.
The findings echoed similar figures from Swiss Re, the other reinsurance industry leader, which calculated overall losses of around $310 billion, of which $135 billion was insured.
It is almost certain that last year will go down as the hottest on record and the first to be 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than before the Industrial Revolution, the critical threshold set in the 2015 Paris Agreement on combating climate change.
“Our planet's climate machine is shifting into high gear,” said Tobias Grimm, chief climate scientist at Munich Re.
“Everyone pays the price for worsening weather extremes” driven by climate change, Grimm added, noting that the burden falls most heavily on ‘people in countries with little insurance protection or publicly funded support to help recovery’.
“The global community must finally act and find ways to strengthen the resilience of all countries, especially those that are most vulnerable,” he said.
Total and insured losses in 2024 were well above the benchmark averages of the past 10 and 30 years, Munich Re said.
The totals were extraordinarily high thanks to a “combination of rare major catastrophes, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, and more frequent events, such as hail, localized floods and forest fires,” said Grimm.
“These phenomena have particularly increased in intensity and frequency over the years,” he said.
Weather catastrophes accounted for 93% of total losses, as a series of hurricanes swept through the tropics, Munich Re calculated.
Cyclones alone were responsible for $135 billion in damage, most of which was recorded in the United States, which was battered by a series of powerful storms.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which hit the southeastern United States in quick succession in September and October, were the two most expensive catastrophes of the year.
Helene resulted in losses of $56 billion, causing flooding in the interior of the US and leaving more than 200 people dead.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the region around Valencia in Spain was the scene of the continent's most serious catastrophe, with more than 200 deaths and damages of US$11 billion.
A study of flood attribution in Spain showed that climate change has “doubled the probability” of precipitation like that seen in Valencia, said Grimm.
The region had around 500 mm of rainfall on a single day in October, which is the most the area normally receives in a whole year, Munich Re said.
In total, around 11,000 people lost their lives as a result of natural disasters in 2024, a hefty number that was nevertheless lower than average, Munich Re said.
The deadliest storm of the year was Typhoon Yagi, which swept from the Philippines to mainland China, killing around 850 people and causing total losses of US$14 billion.
“In developing countries, the lack of infrastructure and inadequate building standards magnify human and material losses,” said Grimm.
Another problem was the gap in coverage in these areas, for which one solution was so-called parametric insurance, said Grimm.
“Defined parameters, such as wind strength, allow quick compensation after a storm, without the need to prove individual damage,” he said.
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