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In Burma, the cyclone Nargis killed 138,000 people in early May, and in
mid May an earthquake left 69,200 dead or missing in China. by Staff Writers
Frankfurt (AFP) July 9, 2008 Natural disasters killed at least 150,000 people in the first half of
this year, more than in the whole of 2004 when south-east Asia was
struck by a tsunami, a top insurer said on Wednesday.
The figures came from German re-insurance group Munich Re which warned
that the pattern this year fitted a trend of worsening weather-driven
catastrophes, and the company called for increased efforts to fight
climate change. Specialists at the German group recorded about 400 natural catastrophes
in the first half of 2008, with overall losses so far estimated at 50
billion dollars (32 billion euros). In 2007, a total of 960 disasters caused about 82 billion dollars in
damage, of which 30 billion was covered by insurance. In Burma, the cyclone Nargis killed 138,000 people in early May, and in
mid May an earthquake left 69,200 dead or missing in China, the company
said in a statement. Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek said that "risk awareness and
measures designed to afford protection against such catastrophes in
highly exposed regions must be given high priority." In China's Sichuan Province for example, that meant "adapting" building
regulations, he added. The first half of this year has been marked by "a large number of
weather-related natural catastrophes," the statement said. "To this extent, the year is following the long-term trend towards more
weather catastrophes, which is influenced by climate change", Jeworrek
noted. In the United States, "there have never been so many tornadoes recorded
in the first six months of a year," the statement added. Billions of dollars in damage was also caused by "heavy rain and hail
and subsequent flooding in Iowa and other Midwest states." For Peter Hoeppe, head of the insurer's Geo Risks Research unit, "the
battle against climate change calls for ambitious measures which, as
evidenced by a new study commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for
the Environment, are to be regarded economically as growth drivers."
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