You're 60 percent more likely to be displaced by a natural disaster today than you were in the 1970s

Destroyed houses along a New York beach
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The latest tally of people displaced from natural disasters underscores just how much of a price we're paying for climate change. A new report from the Norwegian Refugee Council, a leading European aid agency, reveals that natural disasters like typhoons, earthquakes, and flooding forced 19.3 million people from their homes last year. Asia was hit particularly hard, with disasters in China, India, and the Philippines.

While this number is slightly down from the previous two years, the overall trend isn't good. At a Monday meeting in Geneva, Alfredo Zamudio, director of the Norwegian Refugee Council's Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, told reporters that the council's analysis "reveals you are 60 percent more likely to be displaced by disasters today than you were in the 1970s."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up
Latest Videos FromThe Week