A recent report revealed the cost of the devastating effects of climate change-related disasters in 2022, such as droughts, floods, storms and hurricanes.
Christian Aid has put together a list of the 10 most expensive environmental disasters in 2022 in terms of material losses, which ranged between $3 and $100 billion.
Hurricane Ian – $100 billion
Category 4 Hurricane Ian caused significant damage across western Cuba and the southeastern United States.
Over a period of 7 days in late September, the hurricane killed at least 150 people and displaced 40,000.
Drought in Europe – $20 billion
The drought in the summer of 2022 was considered the worst in Europe in 500 years, affecting food and energy production, water availability and wildlife, sparking forest fires and damaging crops.
China floods – $12.3 billion
Last June, southern China experienced the heaviest rainfall since 1961, causing floods and landslides, and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate from their areas.
Drought in China – $8.4 billion
In late August, China experienced its hottest summer since Beijing began its heat records in 1961, with more than 70 days of extreme temperatures and low precipitation badly affecting the Yangtze River basin, which provides water for more than than 450 million people.
East Australian floods – $7.5 billion
From late February to March, eastern Australian states experienced flooding, killing 27 people and displacing 60,000 people.
Pakistan floods – $5.6 billion
From mid-June to September, the floods killed more than 1,700 people and displaced 7 million in Pakistan.
Storm Eunice – $4.3 billion
Over the course of 5 days in February, Storm Eunice wreaked havoc in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK, killing seven people.
The UK recorded winds of 122 mph, the strongest in more than 30 years.
Drought in Brazil – $4 billion
Brazil suffered from drought for most of 2022, and the level of the Amazon River also decreased.
Hurricane Fiona- $3 billion
Hurricane Fiona struck the Caribbean and Canada in the latter part of September, killing more than 25 people, leaving 13,000 homeless, and closing at least 4 international airports, along with a large number of roads.
KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Floods, South Africa – $3 billion
Over a week in April, when 459 people were killed and more than 40,000 forced to leave their homes, Durban, one of South Africa’s busiest ports, was shut down.
