Dr Friederike Otto, climatologist at Imperial College London and co-founder of World Weather Attribution, stated, 'climate change isn't a distant threat.' It worsened extreme weather events that left more than 570,000 people dead. This underscores the urgent need for action as 'if we keep burning oil, gas and coal, the suffering will continue.' This study should serve as a wake-up call for political leaders clinging to fossil fuels that heat the planet and destroy lives.
The Somalian drought in 2011 topped the list of deadliest extreme weather events with 258,000 deaths, severely affected by civil war and rising temperatures. As noted by World Weather Attribution, ongoing conflict exacerbated the drought, ruining crops and leading to a severe food crisis that left many in East Africa, especially Somalia, struggling for survival.
Cyclone Nargis, occurring in 2008, became the second deadliest event on the list, killing at least 138,000 people in Myanmar. The disaster was primarily caused by an 11-foot wall of water that devastated the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta, marking it as one of the worst natural disasters in Asia's recent history. The study highlights how climate change intensifies such events, leading to catastrophic consequences for vulnerable populations.
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