From the Guardian ( U.K.)  Eight ways climate change is making the world more dangerous. Disasters including storms, floods and heatwaves have increased fivefold since the 1970s, UN finds

Forget the future. The world already is nearly five times as dangerous and disaster prone as it was in the 1970s, because of the increasing risks brought by climate change, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organisation.

The first decade of the 21st century saw 3,496 natural disasters from floods, storms, droughts and heat waves. That was nearly five times as many disasters as the 743 catastrophes reported during the 1970s – and all of those weather events are influenced by climate change.

The bottom line: natural disasters are occurring nearly five times as often as they were in the 1970s. But some disasters – such as floods and storms – pose a bigger threat than others. Flooding and storms are also taking a bigger bite out of the economy. But heat waves are an emerging killer.

One more article from Climate Central.

It seems ironic that the hearing is the very day that a supposedly catastrophic show and ice storm is headed up the east coast. The hearing was titled:  Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing titled “Extreme Weather Events: The Costs of Not Being Prepared

• Here is the testimony from 2 top DHS officials at the hearing completed this am. Talk about not addressing the topic!! I wonder if the Senators noticed and questioned them…..

• Here is the GAO report that a staffer mentioned in his testimony.
• The most original and interesting comments were those from the executive at Zurich Re and the public official from the State of DE, in my opinion

NOAA has collected data that shows The 8 years with the most $1 billion weather disasters.

Related articles

• Weather Disasters Cost $110 Billion In 2012 (fox2now.com)
• NOAA Predicts High Activity during 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season (prweb.com)

According this this Washongton Post article, 243 million Americans affected by weather disasters since 2007

Drought, record heat and Hurricane Sandy were among the major weather-related disasters that affected the United States in 2012. But just how many Americans felt the impact of these events? A newly released report from the Environment America Research and Policy Center says 243 million people – nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population – live in counties that experienced at least one weather-related disaster since 2007.

Related articles

• Nearly 80 Percent Of Americans Hit By Extreme Weather Disaster Since 2007, Report Finds (thinkprogress.org)
• Interactive Map Reveals Extreme Weather Disasters Impact 80 Percent of Americans (Map) (scienceworldreport.com)
• Report: 243 million Americans affected by weather disasters since 2007 (washingtonpost.com)