[ti:UN: Extreme Weather to Blame for 2 Million Deaths in Last 50 Years]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:02.48]The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
[00:07.28]said in its latest report that extreme weather
[00:11.56]caused more than 2 million deaths over the past 50 years.
[00:16.64]Weather and water-related events also caused economic damage
[00:21.76]estimated to cost $4.3 trillion around the world over the same period.
[00:30.16]The United Nations weather agency said
[00:33.16]the economic damage continues to rise.
[00:37.72]But it says improvements in early warning systems have helped reduce casualties.
[00:45.08]"Economic losses have soared.
[00:47.52]But improved early warnings and coordinated disaster management
[00:53.08]has slashed the human casualty toll over the past" 50 years,
[00:58.28]the WMO said in a statement.
[01:02.04]The weather agency, based in Geneva, Switzerland,
[01:05.52]has repeatedly warned about man-made climate change.
[01:09.40]It says rising temperatures have increased the number
[01:13.84]and intensity of extreme weather events.
[01:18.36]These include floods, storms, extremely hot weather and a lack of rain.
[01:26.24]The WMO said most of the economic damage
[01:30.12]between 1970 and 2021 took place in the United States.
[01:36.76]The damage there totaled $1.7 trillion.
[01:41.80]However, 90 percent of the deaths worldwide
[01:45.48]took place in developing countries.
[01:49.08]The agency said developing countries suffered a high cost
[01:53.12]when the size of their economies is considered.
[01:57.40]WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas
[02:01.56]said Cyclone Mocha showed how at-risk countries
[02:05.44]"bear the brunt of weather, climate and water-related hazards."
[02:11.68]The powerful ocean storm
[02:13.76]swept across Myanmar and Bangladesh this month.
[02:18.16]"In the past, both Myanmar and Bangladesh
[02:21.56]suffered death tolls of tens
[02:23.52]and even hundreds of thousands of people," he said.
[02:28.00]"Thanks to early warnings and disaster management
[02:31.84]these catastrophic mortality rates are now thankfully history."
[02:37.92]"Early warnings save lives," he said.
[02:41.24]The WMO identified nearly 12,000 extreme weather events
[02:47.40]in its Atlas of Mortality and Economic Loss from Weather,
[02:51.88]Climate and Water-related Hazards.
[02:55.92]It is an update to a report,
[02:58.00]which covered a nearly 50-year period through 2019.
[03:03.20]WMO admits that the number of disasters
[03:06.68]could have risen because of increased reporting
[03:10.00]on extreme weather events.
[03:13.20]The agency also said
[03:15.32]that the reports could underestimate the economic damage.
[03:20.60]In Africa, the WMO counted more than 1,800 disasters
[03:26.28]and 733,585 deaths related to extreme weather,
[03:33.32]including flooding and storms.
[03:37.08]The U.N. agency said the costliest was Tropical Cyclone Idai in 2019,
[03:44.48]which reportedly caused $2.1 billion in damage.
[03:50.56]Nearly 1,500 disasters hit the southwest Pacific,
[03:55.00]causing 66,951 deaths and $185.8 billion in economic losses.
[04:07.12]Asia faced over 3,600 disasters,
[04:11.16]costing 984,263 lives and $1.4 trillion in economic losses,
[04:20.92]mostly due to the impact of cyclones.
[04:25.12]South America had 943 disasters
[04:29.00]that resulted in 58,484 deaths and over $115 billion in economic losses.
[04:40.28]Over 2,100 disasters in North America,
[04:44.24]Central America and the Caribbean led to 77,454 deaths
[04:51.76]and $2 trillion in economic losses.
[04:56.20]Europe had nearly 1,800 disasters,
[05:00.00]leading to 166,492 deaths and $562 billion in economic losses.
[05:11.04]Earlier in May, the WMO said world temperatures are likely to rise
[05:16.36]1.5 degrees Celsius by 2027.
[05:21.44]The U.N. agency said that was a dangerous level,
[05:24.80]which could result in deaths and damage to the world's ecosystems.
[05:30.20]I'm Jill Robbins. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM