Natural disasters have already cost America $3 billion in 2018

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 6 April 2018

From 1980 to 2017, an average of six climate disasters costing over $1 billion struck the U.S. each year. But in 2018, three billion-dollar disasters have already hit — and it's only been three months.

A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows how the number of massive climate disasters has skyrocketed in recent years. Over the past five years, for example, there's been an average of 11.6 billion-dollar climate disasters per year — nearly double the overall average since 1980.

In 2017 alone, there were 16 billion-dollar disasters. In fact, back-to-back hurricanes and other extreme weather cost the U.S. more than $300 billion last year — a new record, per the NOAA.

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

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

This year, two winter storms and an onslaught of southern tornadoes each cost more than $1 billion and killed at least 34 people. Less extreme phenomena, such as droughts in much of the U.S. and record heat in Alaska, have also added to the U.S.'s weather bill.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.