The death toll from natural disasters in the United States is at a 10-year low – News

Nearly 700 people will die in natural disasters in the United States in 2021. This is the highest number recorded since 2011, according to a report released by the Federal Meteorological Agency on Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) noted that “exceptional heat, severe and catastrophic weather in the United States and the second highest number of weather and climate disasters will cost billions of dollars.”

The death toll from weather-related disasters in 48 land states and the district of Colombia has risen to 688, more than double the 262 recorded in 2020, the agency said.

Human activity has caused life-threatening climate change and resulted in more serious environmental events around the world, according to several experts in the matter.

Twenty separate weather events cost US $ 1 billion or more. The company said this was the second highest number of disasters at a cost of 22 disasters a year since 2020.

Disasters include four hurricanes, three hurricanes, two floods, one polar cold and wildfires, drought and extreme heat waves in the west.

“Anxiety” figures

Rachel Cletus, policy director and chief economist at the Climate and Energy Project of the scientists involved, said the figures were “worrying.”

“The catastrophic impact and shock imposed by extreme weather and climate disasters has hit and continues to strike more than others, including communities of color, low-income communities and many other disaster-stricken communities,” he said.

For example, severe cold snaps in February left millions of Americans without electricity, with deadly winter storms blowing over large parts of the United States and even extending as far south as Mexico.

The recorded low temperatures shake places that are not ready for such conditions, making local applications difficult. More than 20 people have been killed in the storm.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ida pounded the Gulf Coast in late August as a Type 4 hurricane, causing extensive flooding and leaving large parts of the region without electricity.

The final blow of that storm killed at least 47 people in the Northeastern United States, turning the streets into rivers, flooding the basement and closing the New York subway.

With an average temperature of 12.5 degrees Celsius in the United States, 2021 is the fourth warmest year in 127 years, according to the NOAA.