Global heating behind THB12.6tn flood damage, 2,000 Thai deaths: NESDC
Flooding driven by climate change has killed more than 2,000 people and cost 12.59 trillion baht over the past 30 years in Thailand, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
The finding confirms that Thailand is suffering serious social impacts from climate change, said the NESDC third-quarter report.
The country has suffered over 40,000 floods during the past 30 years, causing significant loss of life and severe economic damage, the report said. The devastation was worst during the national flood crisis of 2011, but last year’s inundation had cost 53 billion baht in damages, it added.
The NESDC noted that scientific studies over the past 20 years showed that worsening floods were the result of climate change caused by global heating from greenhouse gas and carbon emissions. It cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 2021 findings that the Earth’s temperature has risen 1.09C since pre-industrial times. As a result, climatic changes and sea level rises are now virtually irreversible, the IPPC said.
The NESDC said global heating had triggered a higher frequency of natural disasters around the world, including forest fires in Australia and massive floods in Pakistan, China, and South Korea.
People born in 2020 will encounter three times as many natural disasters as those born in 1960, the NESDC report said.
Between 200 and 2019, the world suffered 7,348 major natural disasters, killing 1.23 million people, affecting 4.2 billion people, and causing economic damage worth US$2.97 trillion, said the report, citing data from last year’s UN Conference on Trade and Development.
