Abstract

We assess contemporary research on the societal implications of catastrophic weather events during the previous century, and we link it to changes in associated meteorological phenomena. The fundamental conclusion drawn from the literature is that most studies find that climate extremes cause significant losses in health, as measured by excess mortality. Most estimates of the costs of weather and climatic extremes show rising losses over the last several decades. The majority of related weather and climate extremes, on the other hand, show no comparable increases over time. This shows that rising losses are mostly the result of increased susceptibility as a result of a range of developments, such as an increase in population in high-risk coastal areas.