The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information recently revised its cost analyses of 2024’s major weather disasters.
The agency determined that 2024 was the second costliest year on record for climate catastrophes, with 27 events that caused at least $1 billion in damages. (The year prior has the dubious honor of logging the most billion-dollar-plus disasters at 28.)
The research points to concerning near- and long-term trends for the insurance industry, government and the public at-large.
“Recent studies in attribution science show that climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and/or severity of tropical storms, heavy rainfall, and extreme temperatures,” reads one of the scientific reports quoted in the NOAA/NCEI research. “The intensification of these and other more extreme weather-climate events are intersecting with areas experiencing high levels of health disparities, social vulnerabilities, and increased exposure due to population growth in hazard-prone areas.”
The slideshow above illustrates top takeaways from NOAA’s January 2025 analysis of billion-dollar disasters from the previous year.
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