14 DAY TRIAL // A new report released by the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) this June 13 highlights 2012's financial losses linked to climate change and global warming.
The NCDC shows that, over the course of just 12 months, the US suffered natural disasters-induced damages amounting to $110 billion (€82.44 billion).
In 2012, the US was hit by a major drought that fostered numerous wildfires, two tropical cyclones and seven severe weather and tornado events.
“In 2012, there were 11 weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion (€0.74 billion) each across the United States. These 11 disaster events cumulatively caused over $110 billion in damages and 377 deaths,” the NCDC writes.
“This makes 2012 the second costliest year since 1980,” the organization goes on to detail.
What the NCDC means is that, as far as damages go, the year 2012 ranks only behind 2005.
Thus, the damages caused by severe weather manifestations in 2005 amounted to $160 billion (€119.92 billion).
The specialists who pieced together this report explain that most of the damage costs reported in 2012 are to be blamed on hurricane Sandy and the yearlong drought.
“Sandy’s large size, with tropical storm force winds extending nearly 500 miles (almost 805 kilometers) from the center, led to record storm surge, large-scale flooding, wind damage, and mass power outages along much of the East Coast.”
“The yearlong drought, which affected more than half the country for the majority of 2012, was the largest drought extent in the United States since the 1930s,” the NCDC explains.
As explained in the report, hurricane Sandy must be held accountable for some $65 billion (€48.72 billion) worth of damages. On the other hand, the drought had drained the country's economy of $30 billion (€22.48 billion).
Between the years 1980 – 2012, the United States experienced a total of 144 major weather events.
The costs for the damage caused by these severe weather manifestations adds up to more than $1 trillion (€0.74 billion).