Environmental News from Asia-Pacific: Human activity and behavior, on top of climate change, contribute to an increasing number of disasters across the world, finds a UN report.
An additional estimated 37.6 million people will be living in extreme poverty due to the impact of climate change and disasters by 2030. According to the report, a worst-case scenario will push an additional 100.7 million people into poverty by 2030.
Between 350 and 500 such disasters have taken place every year over the past two decades. This is five times higher than the previous three decades. The cost of these disasters has averaged nearly $170 billion per year over the last decade, says the report.
This impact is focused on low-income and lower-middle-income countries, which lose on an average 1 percent of their national GDP to disasters per year, compared to 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent in high-income countries and upper-middle-income countries, respectively.
The greatest share of economic loss is borne within the Asia-Pacific region. Countries in this region lose on an average 1.3 percent of GDP to disasters each year. The report added that Africa is the second-most affected region, losing an average of 0.6 percent of GDP to disasters.
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Source: National Herald