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Climate-related disasters on the uptick: Global Climate Risk Index
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- The Global Climate Risk Index, recently published by environmental think-tank Germanwatch, rated Japan as the most-affected country in 2018, while Germany was in third position.
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- Global Climate Risk Index:
(1) An annual ranking
(2) It measures the damage done by extreme weather to human life and economies.
- Findings in the Report:
(1) Worsening heat waves are taking a heavier toll on rich as well as poor countries.
(2) Both industrialised nations i.e Japan and Germany were hit hard by heatwaves and drought in 2018.
(a) a severe summer heatwave in Japan killed 138 people and caused more than 70,000 people to be hospitalised with heat stroke and exhaustion.
(b) In Germany, the period from April-July 2018 was the hottest ever recorded in the country, leading to the deaths of over 1,200 people.
(3) India in fifth position: suffered water shortages, crop failures and worst flooding.
(4) Recent science has confirmed the long-established link between climate change and the frequency and severity of extreme heat.
(5) Across Europe, extreme heat spells are now up to 100 times more likely than a century ago.
(6) It noted that the impact of heatwaves on African countries may be under-represented due to a lack of data.
(7) 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 top-strength Typhoon Mangkhut.
(8) Madagascar was fourth most weather-affected country as two cyclones killed about 70 people & forced 70,000 to seek refuge.
(9) A policy adviser with Germanwatch, at the UN climate talks in Madrid, said that the index results showed that the “signs of climate crisis”, on all continents, could no longer be ignored.