COPENHAGEN, Feb 3, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Extreme weather events such as
heatwaves and floods have cost Europe almost 510 billion euros and around
142,000 lives over the past 40 years, according to a new report published
Thursday.

   In its study, the European Environment Agency (EEA) called for continued
adaptation measures at both individual and state level.

   A small number of extreme events, about three percent of the total, were
alone responsible for about 60 percent of the financial damages incurred from
1980-2020, the report showed.

   When it came to loss of human lives, heatwaves accounted for 91 percent,
with the heatwave experienced in the summer of 2003 killing around 80,000
people.

   Similar heatwaves after 2003 caused significantly lower fatalities "as
adaptation measures were taken in different countries and by different
actors", such as the installation of air conditioners, the EEA noted in a
statement.

   Globally, the World Meteorological Organisation estimates that the number
of weather-related disasters has increased over the past 50 years, causing
more damage but fewer deaths.

   In Europe, the EEA said the data from the past 40 years does not allow for
a definite conclusion to be drawn about whether the increase is due to
climate change, because of the very irregular damage recorded in different
years.

   "All the hazards we describe as weather- and climate-related are
influenced by climatic conditions. This said, that is not the same as saying
they are all influenced by climate change," EEA expert Wouter Vanneuville
told AFP.

   Recent studies, notably the work of the IPCC, indicate that the frequency
and severity of events such as drought and forest fires are easier to link to
climate change, he said.

   For others, such as hailstorms, there is still a lack of evidence.

   "For some types, like non-tropical storms, the climate signal in Europe is
unclear so it is uncertain if they will increase or not," he said.

   "But for others -- like droughts, not only in the Mediterranean but over
most of Europe -- will intensify based on climate predictions."

   Germany was the country in Europe that suffered the most with losses
amounting to 107 million euros ($120 million) and 42,000 victims, over the
past four decades.

   This was followed by France (99 billion euros in damages and 26,700
deaths) and Italy (90 billion euros and 21,600 deaths).

   Only 23 percent of material damages across Europe were covered by
insurance, but there are also massive disparities between countries.

   In Romania and Lithuania only one percent was insured compared to 55
percent in the Netherlands or 56 percent in Denmark.

   Disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are not included in
these figures, as they are not meteorological.

   According to a similar report by the US weather agency NOAA, the US has
suffered 310 weather and climate disasters since 1980, with total damage
exceeding $2,155 billion.