Earthquakes triggered the deadliest disasters of the past decade and remain a major threat for millions of people worldwide who live in some of the world's megacities, the United Nations said Thursday.
A UN-backed study said nearly 60 percent of about 780,000 people killed by disasters in 2000 to 2009 died during earthquakes.
But climate events affected far more people -- nearly three quarters of the two billion hit by catastrophes.
Storms accounted for 22 percent of the overall death toll while extreme temperatures claimed 11 percent of lives lost in 3,852 disasters over the period.
Officials and researchers also maintained their alarm over climate or weather-related disasters as the overall number of catastrophes more than doubled compared to the previous decade.
The global bill for disasters reached 960 billion dollars according to the study by the Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain.
"Earthquakes are the deadliest natural hazard of the past 10 years and remain a serious threat for millions of people worldwide as eight out of the 10 most populous cities in the world are on earthquake fault-lines," said Margareta Wahlstroem, UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction.
But just four percent of those hit by catastrophes over the decade suffered in earthquakes, while 44 percent of them were affected by floods and 30 percent by droughts, the study found.
The deadliest disasters in the first decade of the 21st century were the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, which killed 226,408 people in several countries, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, which claimed 136,366 lives in 2008 and the Sichuan earthquake in China that year, with 87,476 deaths.
Some 73,338 people were also killed in an earthquake in Pakistan (2005) and 72,210 in heat waves in Europe (2003).
The current decade has got off to an equally deadly start, with about 170,000 feared dead in the powerful and unprecedented earthquake that struck Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area on January 12.
Explore further:
UN warns of 'megadisasters' linked to climate change
croghan27
5 / 5 (1) Jan 28, 2010Skeptic_Heretic
1 / 5 (3) Jan 30, 2010When did we replace the term "weather event" with "climate event"?
Lots of mention of the European heatwave but no mention of the current deep freeze that's claimed twice as many people.
croghan27
not rated yet Jan 30, 2010Oh dear .... while I find the article rather confusing - particularly the first two paragraphs: "
"A UN-backed study said nearly 60 percent of about 780,000 people killed by disasters in 2000 to 2009 died during earthquakes.
But climate events affected far more people -- nearly three quarters of the two billion hit by catastrophes."
The segue from deaths to 'effected by' is confusing.
The only reference to weather or climate problems is one about 'extreme temperatures' - nothing about European chills of heat waves.
Do we have the same article?
croghan27
not rated yet Jan 30, 2010marjon I am glad you used the word 'gauche' - as the only references I have seen to the horrid way the prosperous economies have treated Haiti and impoverished it has been in the 'gauche' press - left wing. Indeed, I saw a clip from FOX where some commentator extolled all the 'charity' that has been visited upon the unfortunate country. The suggestion being that it is all their fault - and has nothing to do with years of deliberate animosity toward Haiti.
Skeptic_Heretic
1 / 5 (2) Jan 30, 2010Read the entire article first.
croghan27
not rated yet Jan 31, 2010Skeptic_Heretic
1 / 5 (2) Jan 31, 2010croghan27
1 / 5 (1) Jan 31, 2010The major portion of the wealth of France came from Haiti for years before it claimed independence. (Which pissed off Napoleon to no end.)
The US withheld recognition of the island state for fear it would energize slaves in other states to throw off their shackles.
croghan27
not rated yet Jan 31, 2010marjon, are you an engineer? I remember a quote from somewhere that said if you want the solution of a problem ask and engineer and they will give you an engineering solution: a soldier and they will give you a military solution: a scientist and they will give you a scientific solution.
That you bothered to look into it shows the depth of your compassion - I think that the second part of the posting is more important than the first.
Skeptic_Heretic
1 / 5 (2) Feb 01, 2010You think the Dominican Republic is wealthy? Ridiculous. The only countries that do well in the caribbean are the tourist traps, the tobacco exporters, and the drug cartels.
Skeptic_Heretic
1 / 5 (3) Feb 01, 2010Promoting independence allows the one at play to determine which is better.
Creating dependence removes the ability to choose. I prefer to give people the choice and allow their own morality to decide what's best.
Skeptic_Heretic
not rated yet Feb 04, 2010If they choose to lead a life I do not agree with, is it compassionate for me to force my views upon them?