Prof. Roger Pielke Jr.: ‘Have global weather disasters become worse? As a proportion of global GDP since 1990, the answer is No.’

Data from Munich Re and United Nations. The graph shows a ratio of global weather-related disaster losses to global GDP expressed in 2011 dollars and calculated at market exchange rates. For a peer reviewed analysis which goes into some depth on this subject, see this Munich Re-funded study:

E. Neumayer and F. Barthel. 2011. Normalizing Economic Loss from Natural Disasters: A Global Analysis, Global Environmental Change, 21:13-24 (here in PDF).

They conclude: “there is no evidence so far that climate change has increased the normalized economic loss from natural disasters.”

Prof. Pielke Jr.’s full report here.


Flashback 1956: Climate Change Wreaks Havoc Across The World – Disasters Flourish

A list of 1956 severe disasters before 350ppm CO2 levels – must be early climate change, no?

1956 climate change severe weather blizzard

1956: 125 Die In NYC Region Blizzard – 13.5 Inches Of Snow Quickly Dumped On Area

1956: “Threat of Famine Hovering Over Ice-Shrouded Europe”

1956: 400,000 Square Miles of Australia Threatened By Floods

1956: “It Hit Like A Bomb” – Freak Tropical Storm Floods & Blacks-Out Large Areas

1956: “Moisture conditions are the worst in recorded history”

1956: “Drought Spectre Creeps Across Great Plains, Granary of U.S.

1956: Texas/Oklahoma Blizzard Leaves Up To 43″ of Snow

1956: Likely 58 Japanese Dead From Blizzard

1956: Earthquakes Rock Afghanistan – 20,000 Feared Dead

1956: Torrential Rains Swamp Tasmania – “Worst Flood In Years”

1956: “Flood Of Snakes” Threaten Farmers

1956: “Ike Will See Farm-Ranch Drought Scars No President Has Ever Witnessed”

1956: Crippling Blizzard Follows Tornadoes In Dakotas – “One Of The Worst Storms On Record”

1956: Nova Scotia Struck By 40MPH Gales, 20″ Of Snow, 12ft Drifts

1956: 23-Day Cold Wave Death Toll In Europe Stands At 777

1956: Turkey’s “Worst Winter” Brings Torrential Rains & Big Snow Melts

1956: Large Cracks In Taj Majal’s Main Structure Appear – Heavy Floods To Blame

1956: Flood Mud Carpets Toulon, France Region – Rare Heavy Storm To Blame

1956: Black Dust Storm & Tornadoes In U.S. Kill 16

1956: “White House Plans New Drought Aid”

1956: “Ike Declares California Fire Major Disaster” – Brush Fires Spread

1956: Floods & Avalanches Affect Areas of Germany and Austria

1956: Cyclone Strikes Queensland, Australia

1956: Southern Ohio Fights Forest Fires From High Wind & Low Humidity Conditions

1956: Los Angeles First Hit With Record Storm Flood Then Sizzled By Fire

1956: 2,000 Chinese Die In Typhoon

1956: Canadian Farmers Lose Crops To Golf-Ball Sized Hailstorm

1956: Famous Historian Predicts Devastating World Famine To Come

1956: Tidal Wave 24-Feet High Roars Into Calcutta

1956: Cloudburst Storm Triggers Dangerous Floods In Brazil

1956: Idaho’s Forest Fires Increase By 20 As New Storms Strike

1956: South Pole Iceberg Sighted That Is 3X The Size of Manhattan Island

1956: Hurricane Flossy Floods New Orlean’s Streets

1956: Tornadoes & Floods Plague Central U.S.

1956: 600 Mile Wide Typhoon With 140MPH Winds Rips Into Okinawa

1956: Vast Forest Fires Rage In Alaska

1956: 30% of U.S. Has Extreme Drought Conditions

1956: Greek Islands Struck By Earthquake, Volcano & Tidal Wave

1956: Monsoon Dumps 11 Inches

Settled Science Update: Global Warming Means More Snow, Less Snow, Record Snow & No Snow — In 2000: ‘Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past’ — Now: ‘Why global warming means… more snow’

Via Real Science:

  1. That snow outside is what global warming looks like | George

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/…/uksnowglobalwarmin

    Dec 20, 2010 – George Monbiot: Unusually cold winters may make you think scientists have got it all wrong. But the data reveal a chilling truth.

  2. Snow is consistent with global warming, say scientists – Telegraph

    Feb 3, 2009 – Britain may be in the grip of the coldest winter for 30 years and grappling with up to a foot of snow in some places but the extreme weather is

  3. No More Snow in England Say Global Warmists | Uncommon Descent

    Dec 20, 2010 – I wonder how many global warming scientists in England are stranded trying to travel for the holidays by snow. Yes, everyone knows what a

  4. Why global warming means… more snow – FT.com

    Jan 20, 2012 – Why global warming means… more snow UK government plans to raise motorway speed limits from 70mph to 80mph are a “populist

  5. Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past – Environment – The

    Mar 20, 2000 – Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the in the past 15 years: in the south of England, for instance, from 1970 to 1995 snow Global warming, the heating of the atmosphere by increased