OREANDA-NEWS. The number of natural disasters in the world has increased fivefold over the past 50 years due to climate change. These data are presented in a new report of the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

As noted, the WMO predicted a further increase in the frequency and scale of deadly disasters, but at the same time a decrease in the number of victims due to accurate forecasts. According to the organization, more than two million people died due to natural disasters during this period. The largest of all was the drought in Ethiopia in 1983, which claimed the lives of 300 thousand people.

Such natural disasters have also had a detrimental impact on the economic situation. Financial damage from the cataclysms increased from $175.4 billion in the 1970s to $1.38 trillion in the 2010s. Thus, the total global damage for all this time amounted to $3.64 trillion.
«The improvement of early warning systems for natural disasters has led to a significant reduction in mortality», said General Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary.