Are climate catastrophes actually decreasing? | Insurance business America
New study challenges widely held beliefs about increasing disaster trends
reinsurance
By Mav Rodriguez
A recent study suggests that natural and climate disasters have declined, challenging the narrative of several prominent international organizations. This report is consistent with long-standing claims by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), which has disputed claims of increasing climate catastrophes.
Organizations such as the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Red Cross (IFRC) have reported a rise in climate. associated disasters. However, the GWPF has argued that these reports are misleading, suggesting that technological advances since the 1970s have led to increased disaster reporting rather than an actual increase in disasters.
The new study by Italian scientists Gianluca Alimonti and Luigi Mariani in Environmental Hazards claims that the number of natural and climate disasters is declining in the 21st century. Their analysis of disaster reports since 1900 shows a significant decline in such events by 2022.
“The claim that we are facing an increasing tendency towards natural disasters, as claimed in the three official reports from UNDRR and FAO based on the same EM-DAT data set […] is not supported by data,” the study said.
The authors emphasized that the empirical data contradicts previous analyzes by UN bodies that predict an increasing number of natural disasters and impacts due to global warming: “Our analyzes strongly refute this claim, as do those published by UNDRR on this basis Projections.”
The scientists expressed concern about the misrepresentation of natural disaster trends and warned that such claims were being widely disseminated by various media outlets and the FAO. They argued that this misrepresentation could lead to inconsistent policies at both the national and international levels, potentially wasting resources or distracting from more pressing issues.
“Alimonti and Mariani’s new study confirms what we said in a GWPF report three years ago – climate-related disasters are not increasing despite global warming. Claims to the contrary have been made by several international agencies for years. But “these authorities have failed to recognize that the apparent increase in natural disasters since the 1970s simply reflects a sharp increase in disaster reporting due to new technologies,” Dr. Ralph Alexander, an expert in criticizing false claims about climate disasters.
This is what GWPF director Dr. Benny Peiser.
“There is a famous saying that sums up GWPF’s efforts to clarify disaster trends and climate disasters: ‘First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then they join you.'”
Stay up to date with the latest news and events
Join our mailing list, it’s free!
Source link
2024-06-07 13:40:00
www.insurancebusinessmag.com
