How the price tag on US climate-related disasters hit $165 billion in 2022

Jan 20, 2023

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

In 2022, the world experienced major climate-related disasters ranging from flooding and hurricanes to drought and extreme heatwaves. Moreover, 2022 was the sixth-warmest year on record, according to scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

NOAA just issued its annual report on climate trends in the U.S. for 2022, which includes a review of the major climate-driven weather events that each cost at least $1 billion. NOAA reported 18 separate billion-dollar weather events that collectively cost more than $165 billion — the third-highest tally since 1980 — and resulted in hundreds of deaths.

To learn more about NOAA's findings and the high price of climate-related disasters, in this episode of the ESG Insider podcast we talk with scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, or NCEI. They are Karin Gleason, NCEI's chief of climate monitoring, and Adam Smith, an applied climatologist at NCEI.

"Much of the world operates on a 20th-century infrastructure and economy, but now we're living in a 21st-century climate. And so the inefficiencies of those two realities are becoming more clear as we move into the future," Adam tells us.

"We have our work cut out for us to better mitigate against future damages that we know will continue," he says.

We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com).

Photo source: Getty Images

DISCLAIMER

By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.

S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.