Climate related disasters on the uptick

Syllabus subtopic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

News: Worsening heatwaves are taking a heavier toll on rich as well as poor countries, according to an annual ranking, the Global Climate Risk Index, published by environmental thinktank Germanwatch.

Prelims and Mains focus: about the report and its key findings on impact of climate change

Key findings of the report

The index rated Japan as the mostaffected country in 2018, while Germany was in third position.

Both of the industrialised nations were hit hard by heatwaves and drought that year, as was India — in fifth position — which suffered water shortages, crop failures and worst flooding, Germanwatch said in a report.

“Recent science has confirmed the longestablished link between climate change and the frequency and severity of extreme heat,” it added in a statement.

Across Europe, extreme heat spells are now up to 100 times more likely than a century ago, says the report. It noted that the impact of heatwaves on African countries may be underrepresented due to a lack of data.

Powerful storms also left a trail of destruction in 2018, with the Philippines second in the climate risk index due to large losses when it was battered by topstrength Typhoon Mangkhut.

Madagascar was the fourth most weatheraffected country as two cyclones killed about 70 people and forced 70,000 to seek refuge.

The index results showed that the “signs of climate crisis”, on all continents, could no longer be ignored.

Source: The Hindu

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