A report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has shown that the U.S. experienced 18 extreme weather events last year that and each caused at least $1 billion in damage.
NOAA officials said that a total of $165 billion was spent on weather and climate disasters across the country in 2022, in what was the third-costliest year on record.
The new figures highlight the enormous economic and societal toll of droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, severe storms and other extreme events that are expected to intensify due to climate change.
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“It is a reality that regardless of where you are in the country, where you call home, you’ve likely experienced a high-impact weather event firsthand,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said Tuesday in a briefing at the annual American Meteorological Society conference in Denver.
Hurricane Fiona, Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole all resulted in at least $1 billion in damage in the country even though there was a slow start to the hurricane season.
Widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Ian that hit southwestern Florida in late September resulted in nearly $113 billion in damage, making it the third-costliest U.S. hurricane on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the report found.
The NOAA report estimated that last year’s was one of the more costly droughts on record, causing an estimated $22.2 billion in damage as it fueled wildfires, crop losses and heat waves across the western U.S.
This new report by the NOAA offer a glimpse of the major toll that extreme weather events are already having and the country’s vulnerability to climate disasters in the future. Studies have shown that global warming will worsen drought and wildfires and fuel more intense storms and hurricanes.
Story was adapted from NBC News.
