Extreme weather events accelerated by man-made global warming caused 11 778 reported disasters in the last 50 years, with just over 2 million deaths and US$ 4.3 trillion in economic losses, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)  has said. Asia saw the highest death toll due to extreme weather, climate and water-related events during the period, with around one million deaths – more than half in Bangladesh alone. Also Read: Heat wave in Asia made 30 times more likely because of climate change, scientists say Developing countries were hit hardest, seeing nine in 10 deaths and 60 per cent of economic losses from climate shocks and extreme weather, it said on Monday.  Weather, climate and water-related hazards caused close to 12,000 disasters between 1970 and 2021, according to WMO findings. Also Read: The US leads the world in weather catastrophes. Here’s why WMO said that Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States suffered a “disproportionately” high cost in relation to the size of their economies. “The most vulnerable communities, unfortunately, bear the brunt of weather, climate and water-related hazards,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. In Least Developed Countries, WMO said that several disasters over the past half-century had caused economic losses of up to 30 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Also Read: Italy’s deadly floods just latest example of climate change’s all-or-nothing weather extremes In Small Island Developing States, one in five disasters had an impact “equivalent to more than five per cent” of GDP, with some disasters wiping out countries’ entire GDP. In Africa, WMO said that droughts accounted for 95 per cent of the reported 733,585 climate disaster deaths. Also Read: Pacific Island leaders say rich countries are not doing enough to control climate change WMO stressed however that improved early warnings and coordinated disaster management have helped mitigate the deadly impact of disasters. “Early warnings save lives,” Taalas insisted. The UN agency also noted that recorded deaths for 2020 and 2021 were lower than the previous decade’s average. Pointing to the example of last week’s severe cyclonic storm Mocha, which caused devastation in Myanmar’s and Bangladesh’s coastal areas, Taalas recalled that similar weather disasters in the past caused “death tolls of tens and even hundreds of thousands” in both countries.  The agency had previously shown that just 24 hours’ notice prior to an impending weather hazard can cut the ensuing damage by 30 per cent, calling early warnings the “low-hanging fruit” of climate change adaptation because of their tenfold return on investment. Also Read: Asia and the Pacific unprepared to face climate-induced catastrophes, warns new UN study WMO issued its new findings on the human and economic cost of weather-induced disasters for its quadrennial World Meteorological Congress, which opened on Monday in Geneva with a focus on implementing the UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative.  Also Read: Scientists: Climate change worsened Eastern Africa drought The initiative aims to ensure that early warning services reach everyone on Earth by the end of 2027. It was launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the COP27 climate change conference in Sharm al-Sheikh in November last year.  Also Read: Asia must quit coal faster to stem worst climate woes: ADB Currently, only half of the world is covered by early warning systems, with Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries left far behind.    

The familiar ingredients of a warming world were in place: searing temperatures, hotter air holding more moisture, extreme weather getting wilder, melting glaciers, people living in harm’s way, and poverty. They combined in vulnerable Pakistan to create unrelenting rain and deadly flooding. The flooding has all the hallmarks of a catastrophe juiced by climate change, but it is too early to formally assign blame to global warming, several scientists tell The Associated Press. It occurred in a country that did little to cause the warming, but keeps getting hit, just like the relentless rain. “This year Pakistan has received the highest rainfall in at least three decades. So far this year the rain is running at more than 780% above average levels,” said Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute and a member of Pakistan’s Climate Change Council. “Extreme weather patterns are turning more frequent in the region and Pakistan is not a exception.” Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said “it’s been a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.” Also read: Over 33 mln people, 72 districts of Pakistan affected by floods Pakistan “is considered the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change,” said Moshin Hafeez, a Lahore-based climate scientist at the International Water Management Institute. Its rain, heat and melting glaciers are all climate change factors scientists warned repeatedly about. While scientists point out these classic climate change fingerprints, they have not yet finished intricate calculations that compare what happened in Pakistan to what would happen in a world without warming. That study, expected in a few weeks, will formally determine how much climate change is a factor, if at all. The “recent flood in Pakistan is actually an outcome of the climate catastrophe ... that was looming very large,” said Anjal Prakash, a research director at India’s Bharti Institute of Public Policy. “The kind of incessant rainfall that has happened ... has been unprecedented." Pakistan is used to monsoons and downpours, but “we do expect them spread out, usually over three months or two months,” said the country's climate minister Rehman. There are usually breaks, she said, and not as much rain -- 37.5 centimeters (14.8 inches) falls in one day, nearly three times higher than the national average for the past three decades. “Neither is it so prolonged. ... It’s been eight weeks and we are told we might see another downpour in September.” Also read: Pakistan flooding deaths pass 1,000 in 'climate catastrophe' “Clearly, it’s being juiced by climate change,” said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts. There’s been a 400% increase in average rainfall in areas like Baluchistan and Sindh, which led to the extreme flooding, Hafeez said. At least 20 dams have been breached. The heat has been as relentless as the rain. In May, Pakistan consistently saw temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Scorching temperatures higher than 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) were recorded in places like Jacobabad and Dadu. Warmer air holds more moisture -- about 7% more per degree Celsius (4% per degree Fahrenheit) — and that eventually comes down, in this case in torrents. Across the world “intense rain storms are getting more intense,” said Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer. And he said mountains, like those in Pakistan, help wring extra moisture out as the clouds pass. Instead of just swollen rivers flooding from extra rain, Pakistan is hit with another source of flash flooding: The extreme heat accelerates the long-term glacier melting then water speeds down from the Himalayas to Pakistan in a dangerous phenomena called glacial lake outburst floods.   “We have the largest number of glaciers outside the polar region, and this affects us,” climate minister Rehman said. “Instead of keeping their majesty and preserving them for posterity and nature. We are seeing them melt.” Not all of the problem is climate change. Pakistan saw similar flooding and devastation in 2010 that killed nearly 2,000 people. But the government didn’t implement plans to prevent future flooding by preventing construction and homes in flood prone areas and river beds, said Suleri of the country's Climate Change Council. The disaster is hitting a poor country that has contributed relatively little to the world's climate problem, scientists and officials said. Since 1959, Pakistan has emitted about 0.4% of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, compared to 21.5% by the United States and 16.4% by China. “Those countries that have developed or gotten rich on the back of fossil fuels, which are the problem really,” Rehman said. “They’re going to have to make a critical decision that the world is coming to a tipping point. We certainly have already reached that point because of our geographical location.”

By Dominic Raab  Across the world people are increasingly facing extreme weather – from life-threatening flooding and droughts, to catastrophic wildfires. Climate change is an emergency happening now and it is being compounded by Covid-19 – with the impacts most severe in developing countries. In the UK’s role as President of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), which we are hosting in Glasgow in November, we are working with impacted countries to put their voices at the centre of decision-making. That’s why we hosted a Climate and Development Ministerial meeting on 31 March with many of the countries worst affected by climate change – including Bangladesh, bringing them together with donor countries and international organisations to discuss practical, real world solutions. Now is the time for action – as the world prepares for COP26 and strives to fight the pandemic. We now have a real opportunity to reshape our economies, ensuring they can withstand the effects of climate change and support sustainable jobs and growth. The scale of the opportunity is clear. By boosting investment in renewable energy, like wind and solar power, we have seen the number of jobs in the sector quadruple, from around 10 million today to 42 million globally by 2050. Off-grid solar power alone supports over 350,000 jobs across East, West and Central Africa, and South Asia, with the potential to increase to 1.3 million in the next two years. So the question that I have been putting to my counterparts in countries facing the worst of climate change is “what support do you need to recover and respond to climate change?” Their response is clear: more climate finance and easier access to it, help with rising debt levels caused by the economic consequences of Covid-19, and greater support to adapt to the effects of climate change. In each of these areas, the UK is leading the response. We have committed £11.6 billion during the next five years in climate finance and, through our Presidencies of COP26 and the G7, we are urging others to follow our lead. We are working closely with the G7, G20 and the sustainable creditor partners, the Paris Club, to agree an unprecedented response to alleviate the debt burden. The G20 scheme that we helped launch last year has suspended repayments from the most vulnerable countries worth $5.7 billion. While we must focus on stopping further global warming, we must also act now to adapt to the impacts of climate change and address loss and damage. That is why, during the past decade, the UK has supported 66 million people around the world as they endure the damaging effects of the climate change emergency. The Climate and Development Ministerial sent an urgent message to the world that action is needed now. If we are going to stop further catastrophic impacts for us all, we must limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees – but that will only be possible if all nations come forward with ambitious plans. So, when the world gathers in Glasgow in November, we must ensure that we are all doing what is needed to turn back the dial on climate change, lay the foundations for a green recovery, and secure a brighter future for us all. That is our urgent, shared mission – and the concerns of the most climate-vulnerable nations must be at its heart. Dominic Raab MP is the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs