Thirty years of natural disasters 1974-2003: the numbers
Today, the world is facing disasters on an unprecedented scale: more than 255 million people were affected by natural disasters globally each year, on average, between 1994 and 2003, with a range of 68 million to 618 million. During the same period, these disasters claimed an average of 58,000 lives annually, with a range of 10,000 to 123,000. In the year 2003, 1 in 25 people worldwide was affected by natural disasters. During the last decade disasters caused damage of an estimated US$67 billion per year on average, with a maximum of US$230 billion and a minimum of US$28 billion. The economic cost associated with natural disasters has increased 14-fold since the 1950s. Scientific predictions and evidence indicates that global climate change will increase the number of extreme events, creating more frequent and intensified natural hazards such as floods and windstorms. Population growth, urbanization and the inability of poor populations to escape from the vicious cycle of poverty makes it all the more likely that there will be an increase in the number of people who are vulnerable to natural hazards, with a resulting increase of natural disasters and environmental emergencies.