United States, Register of Natural Disasters in 2020

There were 22 dead, and caused 262 deaths and damage equivalent to $ 95 billion. This is revealed by a report from the Federal Agency for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The impacts of climate change are increasingly evident

In 2020, a record number of natural disasters were recorded in the United States due to bad weather and climatic conditions. In total, there were 22 events, concentrated along the western and eastern coasts of the country, which caused 262 deaths and damage equivalent to $ 95 billion. The western part was affected mainly by fires, and in the east there were a series of hurricanes, while severe heat waves occurred across the country.

California is the state worst affected

The picture is illustrated in a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), a US federal agency that each of the 22 natural disasters that occurred in 2020 caused at least $ 1 billion in damage, six more than the record previously established in United State. California, where there were five of the six largest fires in the history of this state, was among the most targeted. In total, 10.3 million acres have been converted to ash, an area larger than Maryland and well above the averages of past years. Along the eastern coast, especially near the Gulf of Mexico, a record 12 tropical storms were recorded. Seven of those losses caused more than $ 1 billion, including Hurricanes Laura and Sally, which repeatedly ravaged the south of the country between August and September. Louisiana was the hardest hit, with three hurricanes and two tropical storms.

The impacts of climate change are increasingly evident

The US federal agency NOAA also indicated that last year was the fifth-highest temperature ever recorded in the United States, in line with a trend that now appears unstoppable. Suffice it to say, all of the five warmest years recorded in the United States so far have occurred since 2012. The report also highlights three other important dynamics: increasing storm momentum in tandem with warming of the atmosphere and oceans; There have been three major hurricane-related disasters; There were extremely destructive thunderstorm lines – these are structured lines of thunderstorms with large-scale damaging winds capable of knocking out power lines, destroying homes, and destroying entire crops in the Midwest. In short, the effects of climate change are being felt more and more in the United States. Once the denial administration presents former President Donald Trump now, it will now be up to his successor, Democrat Joe Biden, to make a concrete attempt to make up for lost time in the next four years of his term.

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