美国国家公共电台 NPR New Report Shows Weather Disasters In 2017 Cost More Than $300 Billion

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KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Before it got cold this winter, it was warm - very warm. In fact, new data out today shows 2017 was the third-warmest year recorded in the lower 48 states. And it was also a record-breaking year for the cost of weather disasters. Sixteen weather events each broke the billion-dollar barrier. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports on the weather that was.

CHRISTOPHER JOYCE, BYLINE¹: Last year was 2.6 degrees Fahrenheit² warmer than the average year during the 20th century. That may be hard to remember in the thick of winter, but climate scientist Deke Arndt points out that even in a warm year, we still have frigid³ weather that invades from the north.

DEKE ARNDT: We still have very cold poles, and we still have the same weather systems that pull cold air away from those poles into places where we live.

JOYCE: Arndt is part of a team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric⁴ Administration that assesses each year's weather and climate. They also tally⁵ the cost of bad weather. And last year was pricey. NOAA researcher Adam Smith says the cost of these events was unprecedented⁶.

ADAM SMITH: The cumulative⁷ impact of the 16 events exceed $300 billion in damage, which is a new U.S. annual record.

JOYCE: There was of course the trinity of horrible hurricanes - Harvey, Irma and Maria. But there was also flooding in California last February followed by ferocious⁸ late-year fires. There were hailstorms in Colorado and Minnesota and three tornado⁹ outbreaks. There was drought and fire in the Plains states.

NOAA's assessment¹⁰ acknowledges that part of the rising disaster toll¹¹ is due to people building more homes and businesses in vulnerable places. That's especially true with recent losses from wildfires and hurricanes. But NOAA's Deke Arndt notes that a warmer world clearly makes some weather worse.

ARNDT: Heat waves - there's their duration, their intensity¹². Their frequency is going up.

JOYCE: As is the frequency of very heavy rainfalls. Oceanographer Antonio Busalacchi says climate models predict more of the same.

ANTONIO BUSALACCHI: The trend is there. It's clearly evident. We are on an upward and warming slope.

JOYCE: One that increasingly worries not only scientists but insurance companies.

BUSALACCHI: Where is the risk in the future going to be from regional sea level rise and rainfall flooding, et cetera?

JOYCE: Busalacchi runs the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. He says many scientists who work for him are taking on a new task - advising insurance companies on how to lower those risks as the climate keeps warming. Christopher Joyce, NPR News.