How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going

by Vaclav Smil

Numbers of all natural catastrophes recorded by Munich Re show expected year-to-year fluctuations but the upward trend has been unmistakable: a slow increase between 1950 and 1980, a doubling of annual frequency between 1980 and 2005, and about a 60 percent rise between 2005 and 2019.[65] Overall economic losses (reflecting exceptional burdens stemming from major disasters) show even greater annual fluctuations and an even steeper rising trend. When measured in constant 2019 monies, the pre-1990 record was about $100 billion, while 2011 set an all-time record of just over $350 billion and that total was nearly matched in 2017. Insured losses ranged mostly between 30 and 50 percent of total losses, with the 2017 record reaching nearly $150 billion.