Six Shocking Facts You Didn’t Know About Extreme Weather

During the first week of June 2024, temperature records were broken in 80 countries, either for a month or for all of history. Heat waves ravaged the United States, the Mediterranean, southern Europe, North Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. On June 7, temperatures in Aswan, Egypt, reached 50.9 °C, a record high.

Heat records aren’t just uncomfortable. Like fires and floods, they’re deadly.

Weather events like this are becoming more extreme, amplified by the harmful activities of the fossil fuel industry. They are hitting us harder and faster than ever before. They paint a bleak picture for future generations, contributing to the spread of disease, rising death rates, staggering financial costs, disruption of agriculture and food supplies, displacement of populations, and widening inequality.

Extreme weather events are a stark warning: they profoundly disrupt life as we know it, leaving affected communities to bravely manage the aftermath. And in more ways than you might think.

1. In 2023, the world experienced more than 120 extreme weather events, costing US$301 billion

Typhoon Doksuri was reportedly the costliest EWE of the year, costing an astronomical sum 18.5 billion US dollars and left a trail of destruction in Taiwan and the Philippines before ravaging mainland China. In September 2023, Hurricane Daniel caused devastating losses in Greece and Libya to the tune of US$10 billion and, according to Yale University, was the deadliest storm ever recorded in Africa. A month later, Hurricane Otis ravaged Acapulco, Mexico, costing a shocking US$15 billion in damage.

2. Growing inequality: affected communities pay while fossil fuel companies profit

BP, Shell, Exxon, Total and ENI, among others, are amplifying the climate crisis with fossil fuel emissions that cause extreme weather events, hitting poorer communities that are not as well equipped to handle the consequences.

Yet these companies have contributed virtually nothing to the loss and damage financing efforts that could fund recovery initiatives. These companies are paying nothing for the consequences of climate chaos, while fueling disinformation about climate change.

Costs of uninsured climate loss and damage are reaching record highs, says insurance giant Gallagher 185 billion US dollars in 2023. That same year, the world’s five largest oil and gas companies – ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies and BP – reportedly handed out a record price 113.8 billion US dollars It was the largest dividend payout to shareholders ever made by the oil and gas majors, and it came during the hottest year on record.

Activists, farmers and indigenous peoples have filed more than 30 climate damage lawsuits against international oil companies to hold them accountable for their role in climate chaos. But without the resources to rebuild, poverty and inequality are becoming unwelcome guests that refuse to leave.

3. Extreme weather conditions are a major cause of communicable diseases and malnutrition

Extreme weather events limit access to clean water and healthy food, leading to undernutrition, malaria and diarrhea. According to the World Health Organization, between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause 250,000 additional deaths per year in areas with weak health infrastructure – mainly in low- and middle-income countries.

4. Extreme weather is the biggest threat to food supply in 2024

Floods, droughts and heatwaves are having a significant impact on agriculture, leading to food shortages and price spikes. Everstream Analytics’ annual report identifies extreme weather events as the top risk to supply chains in 2024, with a risk score of 100% associated with potential supply chain disruptions due to extreme weather. This warning follows a year marked by weather-related supply chain disruptions, including crop failures, storm damage and shipping delays.

5. More than 20 million people are displaced each year due to extreme weather events

Climate change is leading to an increase in the number of displaced people, many of whom are struggling to find new homes and livelihoods. With global warming estimated at 1.7°C by 2050, 17 to 40 million people could migrate within sub-Saharan Africa, bringing the number of internally displaced people to 1.5. 56 to 86 million for 2.5°C according to the IPCC. According to the UNHCR, between 2008 and 2016, an annual average of 21.5 million Every year, thousands of people are forcibly displaced by floods, storms, wildfires and extreme temperatures. The Institute for Economics and Peace predicts that displacement due to climate threats could reach 1.2 billion by 2050.

6. Extreme weather events accelerate the rate of extinction

Ecosystems, particularly those in the richest biodiversity areas of oceans, coastal regions and other valuable habitats, are at significant risk of climate catastrophe. Deforestation, the draining and burning of peatlands and rainforests, and the thawing of Arctic permafrost have transformed some areas from carbon sinks to carbon sources. In addition, damage from forest-destroying insects is becoming increasingly severe. According to WWF, the rate of extinction of critically endangered species is accelerating, up to 1,000 to 10,000 times faster than the natural rate.

What can you do?

Together, we can end the era of resource-hungry international oil companies taking over the planet and put us back on track to meet the goals set by the Paris climate agreement. If you want Big Oil to stop drilling and start paying for the destruction they cause, sign the petition.

Who pays for damage caused by extreme weather?

It’s time to make polluters pay. Sign now to hold oil and gas companies accountable and support a safe and fair future for all.

Add your name

Thandile Chinyavanhu is a global campaigner for the Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign with Greenpeace International based in Johannesburg, South Africa.