2020 natural catastrophes News

Update: The Escalating Costs of Australia’s Wildfire Disaster

Australia is in the grip of deadly wildfires burning across the country, triggering an emotive debate about the impact of climate change in the world’s driest-inhabited continent. The unprecedented scale of the crisis, and images of terrified tourists sheltering on …

Indonesia Hit by Worst Flooding Since 2013, with Death Toll Rising

Indonesian authorities re-opened the Halim Perdanakusuma airport in Jakarta for limited operations, as the death toll rises from the city’s worst flooding in almost seven years. At least 16 people have died from the New Year’s Day flooding, with half …

Australia Breaks Records for High Temperatures, Low Rainfall as Wildfires Keep Raging

As massive wildfires devastate swathes of Australia and supercharge the debate over the impact of climate change, government data show the nation has never suffered a hotter or drier year than 2019. The average temperature last year was about 1.5 …

$584B at Risk From Cat Events in 2020: University of Cambridge Study

Providing an annual update of its study of the impact of catastrophic events on global GDP, researchers from the University of Cambridge find that roughly $584 billion could be wiped from the global economy from such events in 2020. According …