Nearly 700 people have died from weather disasters in 2021 in US states except Alaska and Hawaii, a level that had not been reached since 2011, according to an agency report federal government released Monday.
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The year “was marked by extremes across the United States, including exceptionally hot weather” and “devastating weather events,” the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) said.
The death toll from meteorological disasters in the 48 continental states and the capital Washington stands at 688, more than two and a half times that of the previous year (262).
Human activity is causing dangerous climate change which is resulting in more severe weather events around the world.
20 such phenomena caused damage that cost the United States a billion dollars or more, the second highest number of such expensive events behind the year 2020, during which there were 22, according to the agency.
Among these disasters, four hurricanes, three tornadoes, but also floods, forest fires and heat or cold waves.
Such statistics are “a reality check,” commented Rachel Cleetus, economist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“The devastating toll and trauma caused by these extreme climate and weather disasters have hit and continue to hit people of color, those with low incomes and people who have already suffered multiple disasters the hardest,” she explains. .
Freezing cold left millions of Americans without power in February when a dreaded winter storm hit large parts of the United States, and even as far away as Mexico.
In some areas unprepared for such conditions, local businesses had been overwhelmed, leaving residents exasperated and refugees under coats or blankets, left to fend for themselves. More than 20 deaths had been recorded.
In August, Hurricane Ida hit the US Gulf of Mexico coast, causing flooding and power cuts, and plunging large parts of the region into darkness.
Remnants of the storm then killed at least 47 people in the northeast of the country, turning streets into rivers and flooding basement apartments.
2021 was the fourth warmest year in 127 years of measurements, with an average temperature of 12.5 degrees Celsius for the entire U.S. Continental Block.
December was the warmest month on record, with temperatures 3.7 degrees above average.
The average temperature in 2021 was about 1.3 degrees higher than the 20th century average.