As the world gets hotter, the weather is getting more extreme. Scientists predicted this effect, but unfortunately, even they couldn't foresee just how quickly climate disasters would ramp up.
People in the Pacific Islands are being hit incredibly hard, experiencing seven to eight times more effects from extreme weather than they did just 10 years ago, per an Oxfam Australia report posted to Phys.org.
What's happening?
The study examined the impact of climate disasters such as tropical storms, comparing the most recent decade (2014-23) with the previous one (2004-13).
It found that between those two time periods, financial costs from extreme weather have increased eightfold. The difference is particularly pronounced in the last two years, reaching a peak of AUD$7.3 billion (about $4.5 billion).
Not only that, but the productivity lost because of extreme weather events also takes a toll. The study found that the average GDP loss of Pacific Island nations was 14.3% this decade, compared to 3.2% in the 10 years prior. The number of people being impacted also rose 700%, from 80,300 to 607,000.
In one particularly extreme case, the nation of Vanuatu lost 80% of its gross domestic product — twice, in both 2015 and 2020. This kind of devastating blow is almost incomprehensible for larger nations such as the United States, which haven't been hit all at once by this type of disaster.
Why is this increase important?
All these figures add up to one fact: The world's rising temperature is having disastrous consequences.
Right now, the island nations of the Pacific are among the most vulnerable, and the people there are already suffering from the changes in Earth's climate.
What's being done about the climate disasters in the Pacific?
In light of the disproportionate impact on the Pacific Islands, Oxfam called on Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, to set aside more of the country's aid budget for these nations, Oxfam Australia reported. In 2022-23, Australia offered AUD$265.9 million ($165.6 million) in climate financing to the region, less than 4% of the costs.
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"We recognize that the ambition from climate activists in the Pacific and around the world is for a climate finance goal that is in the trillions," said Eunice Wotene, Oxfam in the Pacific's executive director, per Oxfam. "To the Australian government and many other western governments, this might seem too ambitious — but if this research shows anything, it is that the scale of climate damage is beyond what we have imagined and getting worse by the day."
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