Climate-Related Disasters in Asia and the Pacific

Abstract

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Global Increase in Climate-Related Disasters

“…Disaster risks result from the interaction of three elements: (i) the hazard itself, (ii) the population exposed to the hazard (exposure), and (iii) the community's ability to withstand its impact (vulnerability) (Peduzzi et al 2009;Thomas, Albert, and Perez 2013).…”

“…EM-DAT reports events causing at least 10 deaths, affecting at least 100 people, or prompting a declaration of a state of emergency or a call for international assistance. As in Thomas, Albert, and Perez (2013) and Thomas, Albert, and Hepburn (2014), we considered disasters that cause at least 100 deaths or directly affect at least 1,000 people because this approach is less likely to have a reporting bias. 6 We use the centennial Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) Full Data Reanalysis (Version 7.0) of monthly global land-surface precipitation based on the 75,000 stations worldwide that feature record durations of 10 years or longer.…”

“…19741978198219861990199419982002 This study explores whether there is a significant relationship between climate change and the global increase in the frequency of intense natural disasters. As in Thomas, Albert, and Perez (2013), this paper considers the three main disaster risk factors-rising population exposure, greater population vulnerability, and increasing climate-related hazards-behind the global increase in frequency of intense natural hazards.…”

Contributors to the frequency of intense climate disasters in Asia-Pacific countries

“…While improved reporting is sometimes credited with some of such rising frequencies, our focus on intense events (which are less likely to be under-reported in the past) reduces that possibility (Peduzzi et al 2009;Thomas et al 2013). Furthermore, while we note a sizable increase in the frequency of intense climate-related 2 disasters, the frequency of intense geophysical disasters (related to earthquakes and volcanoes) has only slightly increased.…”

“…We define disaster risk as the likelihood of losses (deaths, injuries, destruction and damage to property, and others) that a hazard might cause. Disaster risk is influenced by three elements: (i) the hazard itself; (ii) the population exposed to the hazard (exposure); and (iii) the community's ability to withstand its impact (vulnerability) (Peduzzi et al 2009;Thomas et al 2013). Population exposure and vulnerability together can turn a specific natural hazard into a disaster.…”