UN gives extreme weather warning

The world is better prepared to face past disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but is not ready for the extreme weather of the future, the UN’s top natural disaster official has warned.

Margareta Wahlstrom, the special representative of the UN secretary general for disaster risk reduction, said early warning systems such as that now in place in the Indian Ocean are helping improve preparations for major disasters.

That warning system was established after a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast on December 26, 2004, triggered a 30m tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 14 countries and caused €8bn in damage.

Wahlstrom said much more needs to be done to prepare for the extreme weather that has noticeably increased in recent years.

According to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, based in Belgium, which tracks the world’s catastrophes, from 1983 to 1992 the world averaged 147 climate, water, and weather disasters each year.

Over the past 10 years, that number has jumped to an average of 306 a year.

“The mix of extreme weather variability, some climate issues, and population has grown a lot — and therefore cities and urban environments have grown very dense and have not planned for this type of stuff,” Wahlstrom said.