The India Meteorological Department expects the AI-based climate...
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China’s magnitude-6.2 earthquake kills over 100 in impoverished northwest
About 400 people were injured, thousands of buildings collapsed and...
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Global cat losses at $75 bn in 1H 2020,India’s Amphan was the costliest:Aon Report
Natural disasters were responsible for approximately 2,200 fatalities during the first half of 2020, significantly below the long-term (1980-2019) average of 39,800 and the median of 7,700. Flooding was the deadliest natural peril during the period, having been responsible for 60 percent of the death toll.
Above-average hurricane season possible in the second half of the year:Munich Re
Munich Re has said up to the end of June,natural disasters produced overall losses of around $68bn,a slightly lower figure than the 30-year average (US$ 74bn after adjustment for inflation).
Insured losses, at around US$ 27bn, were higher than usual (US$ 20bn) due to the large proportion of weather disaster losses in North America.
North America accounted for 47% of overall losses and for 82% of insured losses, significantly more than the respective long-term averages (35% and 60%). In contrast, natural disasters in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region produced lower losses.
France weighs insurance options to protect companies,jobs from future Pandemics
The goal is to protect companies and jobs from the damage that major events such as pandemics can cause, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a statement. A working group consisting of lawmakers and industry representatives came up with a range of solutions on developing insurance coverage for such catastrophes, and Le Maire sought public comment on its proposals to inform the government’s work on the issue
Dam collapse in China could point to a ‘black swan’ disaster
But climate change is bringing a new normal of extremes and flood-risk policies decided a decade or two ago are no longer sufficient, said Benjamin Horton, director at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.
“What really needs to happen is to work with the ecosystems,not against them by building dams,by extending flood wetlands and flood plains and allowing the water to naturally mix with the environment,”he said.
India’s water crisis is forcing farmers to finally rethink what they grow
Water shortages are already acute: nearly half the country’s population faces high-to-extreme water stress and about 200,000 die each year due to inadequate access to safe water. Stoked by climate change, the water crisis has forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to try and turn around decades of established farming practices and convince the country’s most powerful voting bloc to change the crops they plant. Water-guzzlers like rice and wheat are out, corn and pulses are in.
Don’t expect first Covid-19 vaccinations until early 2021, says WHO expert
WHO is working hard to ensure fair distribution of the vaccines, but in the meantime it is key to suppress the spread of the coronavirus, said Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s emergencies programme, as daily new cases around the globe are at near-record levels.
Global coronavirus cases exceed 15 million
The top five countries with the most cases is rounded out by Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa. But, the Reuters tally shows the disease is accelerating the fastest in the Americas, which account for more than half the world’s infections and half its deaths.
Globally, the rate of new infections shows no sign of slowing, according to the Reuters tally, based on official reports.
After the first COVID-19 case was reported in Wuhan, China, in early January, it took about 15 weeks to reach 2 million cases. By contrast, it took just eight days to climb above 15 million from the 13 million reached on July 13.
China offers more financial support for flood-hit areas
Separately, the CBIRC urged insurers to properly perform investigations and claims settlement and arrange financial resources in advance to help flood-hit companies and people resume production and normal lives in a timely manner.Large parts of China were reeling on Friday from the worst floods in decades, which destroyed homes and affected millions of people.
India’s COVID-19 fatality rate drops to 2.43% from 3.36% on Jun 17:Health Ministry
“Nineteen states and UTs are performing more than 140 tests per day per million population. Just doing tests is not enough, they have to be done at a level of 140 tests per day per million so that the rate of positivity reduces and comes down to 10 per cent first and then continue the testing process so that the rate of positivity further reduces to 5 per cent or lower,” he said
People are more likely to contract COVID-19 at home, study finds
A study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 16 looked in detail at 5,706 “index patients” who had tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who came into contact with them.
The findings showed just two out of 100 infected people had caught the virus from non-household contacts, while one in 10 had contracted the disease from their own families.