Figure 2-7: The economic
losses from catastrophic weather events have risen globally 10-fold (inflation-adjusted)
from the 1950s to the 1990s, much faster than can be accounted for with simple
inflation. The insured portion of these losses rose from a negligible
level to about 23% in the 1990s. The total losses from small, non-catastrophic
weather-related events (not included here) are similar. Part of this observed
upward trend in weather-related disaster losses over the past 50 years is linked
to socio-economic factors (e.g., population growth, increased wealth, urbanization
in vulnerable areas), and part is linked to regional climatic factors (e.g., changes
in precipitation, flooding events).
