Disasters could cost world $421bn by 2030: The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events could cost the world $421 billion per year by 2030, the Red Cross warned on Monday.
“Disasters take lives and ruin prospects, often making the situation of already impoverished people even worse,” said European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva in a news release from the Red Cross on Monday.
The warning came as the Red Cross-a global humanitarian aid charity-and the European Commission-the executive body of the European Union-launched a joint communications campaign on the importance of preparing for disasters.
NOTE: Usually I post the URL to the original report, but in this case I cannot find it. The Red Cross is a big organization! If any readers know please comment.
Recovery Diva 
Increased severity – only in terms of cost, not in terms of energy (e.g., Sandy was less intense than the Long Island Express of ’38 – if it had hit instead of Sandy, impacts would likely have been one or more orders of magnitude greater!). Increased number – have to give that one a Scot’s verdict as well – not proven. Personally, I find this scare-mongering immoral. It seems to be trying to push us into making bad decisions on the basis of limited data. For example, the climate models so often pointed to as justification for “impacts” in fact are not very informative about the specific impacts to whom. Many of the actions touted as “solutions” (e.g., carbon taxes) in fact will disproportionately impact the working poor.