Weather disasters cost more than the health of the Earth in 2021, with the United States paying a total of $145 billion to combat climate change, according to a new report.
The annual report published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that there were 20 weather and climate disasters in the U.S. that cost $1 billion or more in 2021.
The report found that wildfires, Hurricane Ida, tornadoes, heatwaves in the West, winter storms, and a cold wave in Texas were among the climate events that cost not only money, but also lives. They resulted in the death of 688 people.
Adjusted for inflation, the extreme weather in 2021 resulted in it being the third-costliest year on record after 2017 and 2005.
Adam Smith compiled the NOAA report and shared that "It was a tough year."
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"Climate change has taken a shotgun approach to hazards across the country," Smith said.
Smith was right as another report in the Advances in Atmospheric Sciences found that the oceans were "the hottest ever recorded by humans."
Researchers found that since 1958, the world's oceans have been warming steadily, with the rate spiking in the 1980s, going up eight times as fast as in decades before.
Oceans' rising temperatures play a big part in other climate disasters. For example, they can be linked to stronger tropical storms, Earth's polar ice melting, rising sea levels, and stronger rain events due to evaporation.
President Joe Biden has addressed the leading cause of oceans warming, greenhouse gas emissions, and plans to cut emissions by 50% in the U.S. by 2050.
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