Hendersonville – You see the same slant with hurricanes. The disaster database recorded more hurricanes after 1980 than before – six times as many on average. Yet, a historical study from dozens of peer reviewed records shows that the quantity of hurricanes making landfall in the U.S. has actually declined slightly since 1900.
Climate Activism and Some Facts
Climate activism loves to bring up all the looming threats that climate change poses, but never gets around to talking about deaths. In fact, folks are safer today from climate related disasters than ever before. Part of the problem with this is that it’s easier now to misuse the data to make things seem worse—bad news sells.
As a result of the internet and general media hype, the International Disaster Database, the largest depository for such news in the world since 1980 onward, records natural disasters that in prior decades would not have been mentioned. This has seriously skewed the database and made it appear that there are now more natural disasters than in the past. For example, the database recorded four times as many earthquakes on average each year after 1980 as it did before. Yet, the U.S. Geological Survey points out that when databases show this, it is not really because there are more earthquakes, but because they are now more accurately recorded over time.
You will see the same problem with hurricane reporting. The disaster database records far more hurricanes after 1980 than before – six times as many on average. But a historical study from dozens of peer-reviewed records shows that the quantity of hurricanes making landfall in the U.S. has actually declined slightly since 1900.
Total deaths from climate catastrophes are much less bendable. While reports of such catastrophes largely increased over the past century, the disaster database toll is very close to the official estimates. That data tells a very encouraging story. A hundred years ago, almost 500,000 people died each year from storms, wildfires, extreme heat or cold and floods. Over the next ten decades, global annual deaths from such causes have declined almost 96 percent, to around 18,000. In 2020, they dropped to almost 14,000.
This year, the media overwhelmed us with news about the natural disasters occurring around the globe, yet they have left out the most important statistic, the total death toll. So far, deaths total around 5,500, almost 99 percent less than 100 years ago. In that time, the global population has nearly quadrupled. This is quite an achievement and well worth serious attention.
Publisher’s Note: Climate change is now garnering massive attention without any commensurate media coverage of some of the basic data. This is an attempt to shed a little light on what’s happening.