Editing Disaster (section)

== Impacts ==
{{Further|Natural disaster#Impacts}}
The effects of a disaster include all human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts.<ref name="UNGA" />{{rp|13}}

The Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) records statistics about disasters related to natural hazards. For 2023, EM-DAT recorded 399 disasters, which was higher than the 20-year average of 369.<ref name=":6" />

=== Economic losses ===
Between 2016 and 2020 the total reported economic losses amounted to $293 billion. This figure is likely to be an underestimation. It is very challenging to measure the costs of disasters accurately, and many countries lack the resources and technical capacity to do so.<ref name="UNDRR-2">UNDRR (2023). [https://www.undrr.org/publication/report-midterm-review-implementation-sendai-framework-disaster-risk-reduction-2015-2030 The Report of the Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.] UNDRR: Geneva, Switzerland.</ref>{{rp|50}} Over the 40-year period from 1980 to 2020 losses were estimated at $5.2 trillion.

=== Human impacts ===
In 2023, natural hazard-related disasters resulted in 86,473 fatalities and affected 93.1 million people.<ref name=":6" /> Whilst the number of deaths was much higher than the 20-year average of 64,148, the number affected was much lower than the 20-year average of 175.5 million.

According to a UN report, 91% of deaths from hazards from 1970 to 2019 occurred in developing countries.<ref name="United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction-2023">{{cite web |year=2023 |title=Concept Note: International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2023. |url=https://www.undrr.org/quick/79692 |accessdate=October 17, 2023 |publisher=United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction}}</ref> These countries already have higher vulnerability and lower resilience to these events, which exacerbates the effects of the hazards.

=== Effects of climate change ===
[[Natural hazard|Hazards]] such as [[drought]]s, [[flood]]s, and [[cyclone]]s are naturally occurring phenomena.<ref>Ara Begum, R., R. Lempert, E. Ali, T.A. Benjaminsen, T. Bernauer, W. Cramer, X. Cui, K. Mach, G. Nagy, N.C. Stenseth, R. Sukumar, and P. Wester, 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter01.pdf Chapter 1: Point of Departure and Key Concepts]. In: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 121–196, {{doi|10.1017/9781009325844.003}}</ref> However, [[climate change]] has caused these hazards to become more unreliable, frequent and severe. They thus contribute to disaster risks. Countries contributing most to climate change are often at the lowest risk of feeling the consequences.<ref name=":5">IPCC, 2023: Sections. In: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/ Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 35-115, doi: 10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647</ref> As of 2019, countries with the highest vulnerability per capita release the lowest amount of emissions per capita, and yet still experience the most heightened droughts and extreme precipitation.<ref name=":5" />