It marks a new record, writes the New York Times’ Somini Sengupta, that indicates this year might be “on pace to be one of the most disastrous years in almost two decades.”
The numbers come from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), which compiles data from governments, United Nations humanitarian agencies and media reports. In a report published Thursday, the IDMC concluded that floods, landslides, cyclones, and other extreme weather events temporarily displaced more people in the first half of this year than during the same period in any other year.
“There were about 10.8 million new displacements worldwide in the first half of 2019,” says the IDMC. “Seven million triggered by disasters and 3.8 million by conflict and violence. Extreme weather events, particularly storms and floods, were responsible for most of the disaster displacement.”
And this report was compiled before Category 5 Hurricane Dorian struck a disastrous blow to the Bahamas, killing over 50 people, and leaving about 70,000 victims homeless and 2,500 missing.
Better preparedness in a climate crisis
With the global climate crisis, mass displacement triggered by extreme weather events is becoming the new norm. The latest numbers reflect both bad news and good. Extreme weather events are becoming more extreme in the era of climate change, according to scientists, and more people are exposed to them, especially in rapidly growing and storm-prone Asian cities.
The good news is that governments are learning to be better prepared – with early warning systems and evacuation shelters in place. The technology behind weather forecasting has also made giant leaps forward, as seen by the use of sophisticated satellite systems.
Being better prepared had helped in saving millions of lives that may have otherwise been lost. The numbers include people “who might otherwise have been killed” – Like in India and Bangladesh, where 3.4 million were displaced due to Cyclone Fani evacuations.
taken shelter from conflict in Borno State. Photo: NRC, August 2019.
Are we prepared enough?
A report from the Global Commission on Adaptation suggests the response might be better, but it’s not enough. “There are bright spots, but so far the response has been gravely insufficient,” says the foreword co-authored by Bill Gates, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and CEO of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva.
Along with more “political leadership,” they write, there needs to be “a revolution in understanding, planning, and finance that makes climate risks visible,” and which “incorporate these risks into all decisions.”
The science tells us that extreme weather events will only increase. Alexandra Bilak, the IDMIC’s director told the New York Times, “With the impact of climate change, in the future, these types of hazards are expected to become more intense. Countries that are affected repeatedly like the Bahamas need to prepare for similar, if not worsening, trends.”
