Cape Town - The world experienced “unprecedented” climate extremes in the decade to 2010 when more than 370 000 people died due to heat waves, cold spells, drought, storms and floods, a UN report has said.
The report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said last week the decade 2001 to 2010 was the warmest since modern records began in 1850. In that decade every year except 2008 was among the 10 warmest recorded yet.
The 370 000 death toll was 20 percent higher than the toll in the previous decade, from 1991 to 2000. The spike in deaths was mainly from the extreme heatwave in Europe in 2003.
The number of people exposed to flooding every year increased by 114 percent globally between 1970 and 2010, during which the world population increased by 87 percent.
The number of people exposed to severe storms almost tripled, increasing by 192 percent in the same period.
However, there had been a 16 percent decline in deaths due to storm and a 43 percent decline in deaths from flooding, a result of better early-warning systems and increased preparedness for extreme events.
Most parts of the world had higher than normal rain between 2001 and 2010. Central Asia, eastern north America, and many parts of Europe were particularly wet. In Pakistan 2 000 people died and 20 million were affected by floods.
The decade saw droughts all over the world, with some of the most severe in Australia, the Amazon Basin and in east Africa, which resulted in widespread loss of life.
There were 511 tropical cyclones in the decade which killed nearly 170 000 people and affected 250 million, with an estimated economic loss of $380 billion (R3.87 trillion).
The 2001-2010 decade was the most active since 1855 for tropical cyclones, with an average of 15 named cyclones a year, above the average of 12.
Above-average temperatures were measured over most parts of the world in 2001 to 2010, particularly in the higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Africa experienced warmer than normal temperatures every year in the decade.
WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud said natural climate variability was caused in part by the interaction between the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, which meant some years were cooler than others, so the global temperature curve was not smooth. But the underlying trend in long-term temperatures was clearly upward. “WMO’s report shows that global warming was significant from 1971 to 2010 and that the decadal rate of increase between 1991-2000 and 2001-2010 was unprecedented.” - Cape Times