From the wildfires in Maui to Hurricane Idalia in Florida and heavy flooding in Southern California, this year the U.S. has been struck with a major natural disaster at an approximate rate of once every week and half. With four months still to go, it's already the most disastrous year in recorded history, according to recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Altogether, NOAA reported severe weather events this year caused 253 direct and indirect fatalities, but those could continue to rise as 66 were still missing in Maui as of Tuesday. Each disaster required at least $1 billion in relief funds, altogether costing $57.6 billion in damages, according to NOAA. The disasters took place in a landscape of changing climates, with the hottest summer ever recorded causing power outages and droughts in some regions and severe rain caused by tropical storms flooding others. Paired with the natural climate pattern, El Niño, high temperatures are estimated to have contributed to the deaths of thousands of U.S. residents this year alone. As temperatures rise due to global warming, natural disasters like hurricanes also become more severe, pulling in more heat and becoming stronger with more rainfall.
