Natural Calamities Cost $87 Bn to India in past one year, WMO Report

Natural calamities have really harmed India in the past one year as it costs nearly $87 Billion to cover up.

According to report by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released on Tuesday, Natural disasters, such as cyclones, floods and droughts, have cost India around $87 billion in 2020.

After China, India ranked second most affected nation from the impact of global warming on lives and property. The weather agency of the United Nations said in its State of the Climate in Asia report, citing estimates by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Losses in Japan was marginally less at $85 billion.

As 2020 was the warmest year in Asia droughts caused the maximum damage with a mean temperature at 1.39 degrees Celsius above the average of the 1981-2010 period. The report highlighted the extent of the global climate crisis, days ahead of the global summit in Glasgow later this week.

Cyclone Amphan, one of the strongest storms ever, hit the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest straddling India and Bangladesh, in May 2020, displacing 2.4 million and 2.5 million people, respectively, the report said.

The Indian Ocean is also warming up rapidly, along with the Pacific and the Arctic, with record surface temperatures. Sea surface temperatures around Asia were increasing three times faster than the global average, particularly in the Arabian sea. Warmer sea surfaces increase the probability of severe storms.