Why the truth about weather disasters matters

WATCHING the news, you get the sense that climate change is making the planet unliveable. We are bombarded with images of floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires. We see not only the deadly events nearby, but far-flung disasters when the pictures are scary enough.

Yet, the impression this barrage of catastrophe gives us is wildly misleading and makes it harder to get climate change policy right. Data shows climate-related events, such as floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires, aren’t killing more people.

Deaths have dropped precipitously. Over the past decade, climate-related disasters have killed 98 per cent fewer people than a century ago.