NEW DELHI: Asia remained world’s most disaster-hit region from weather, climate and water-related hazards by reporting 79 disasters in 2023 that affected over nine million people,
World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said in a report released on Tuesday. It also underlined that the continent is warming faster than the global average, and the warming trend has nearly doubled since 1961-1990 period making 2023 the second warmest year on record for the continent.
WMO referred to international disaster database, Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), that kept Americas (North and South put together) at second spot in terms of reporting disasters followed by Europe, Africa and Oceania.The global Met body used only hydro-meteorological hazards to arrive at the figure of 79 disasters.
Though country-wise precise numbers in terms of fatalities is missing from the report, India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Jan flagged that India alone witnessed 2,376 casualties due to extreme weather events, including highest 1,276 due to lightning & thunderstorms followed by floods & heavy rains (862) and heat waves (166).
The WMO report, State of the Climate in Asia 2023, said floods and storms caused highest number of casualties and economic losses in Asia whereas impact of heatwaves became more severe in terms of health risks in 2023. It said over 50 years of data in Asia confirms need for greater disaster risk reduction intervention.