The global climate crisis has led to a staggering cost of $391 million per day over the past two decades, according to a recent report.

A study published in the journal Nature Communications revealed that wildfires, heatwaves, droughts, and other extreme events caused by climate change have resulted in an average annual cost of over a hundred billion dollars from 2000 to 2019.

The report states, “We find that $143 billion per year of the costs of extreme events is attributable to climatic change. The majority (63%) of this is due to human loss of life,” with the remaining costs associated with property and asset destruction.

The years with the highest losses were 2008, followed by 2003 and 2010, all of which experienced high mortality events.

In 2008, Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, claiming more than 80,000 lives. The severe heatwave across continental Europe in 2003 caused 70,000 deaths. In 2010, there was a heatwave in Russia and a drought in Somalia.

The estimated losses were determined by combining economic data for these events with the impact of global heating on weather patterns.

However, the study acknowledges that there is an underestimation of the true costs of climate change due to the challenges in measuring indirect losses. Examples include productivity losses during heatwaves, mental health impacts, or the loss of education and job opportunities due to damaged infrastructure.

The study also highlights that the lack of data from lower-income countries contributes to the underestimation of true costs.

The study values the cost per life lost at $7.08 million, aligning with estimates used by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The researchers emphasize the need for increased adaptation policies to minimize the costs associated with climate change. This includes measures like constructing flood protection systems or improving early warning signals for extreme weather events.

Various organizations have attempted to quantify losses resulting from climate disasters.

The World Meteorological Organization reported that between 1970 and 2021, there were nearly 12,000 climate disasters, leading to 2 million deaths and economic losses amounting to $4.3 trillion, mostly in developing countries.

“The planet is far off track from meeting its climate goals,” warned the WMO in a September report, emphasizing the rise in global temperatures and accompanying extreme weather events.

In the 2015 Paris climate accord, governments agreed to limit global heating to well below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels and strive for a temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

However, these targets are currently at risk of not being met. The WMO forecasts a 66% chance of the annual mean global near-surface temperature temporarily exceeding 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels within the next five years, with the probability increasing over time.