A bailey bridge being constructed after landslides triggered by heavy rain at Chooralmala, in Wayanad district.
Credit: PTI Photo
The year 2024 is coming to an end. While there had been many events that will be remembered by all of us, the year saw one of the deadliest disasters and climate crisis across the globe.
A study titled Counting the Cost 2024: A year of climate breakdown December 2024, by Christian Aid has mentioned how the disasters across the world caused more than $4 billion (34,194 crore) each in damage.
Here let us take a look at some of the worst climate disasters of 2024:
Kerala's Wayanad landslides
Landslides in Wayanad.
Credit: PTI Photo
Massive landslides had struck the hilly areas in Kerala's Wayanad district on July 30 which took lives of over 200 people and left many homeless and some left orphaned. It is considered one of the worst natural disasters in Kerala's history.
Hundreds were left buried under the debris and many had to be pulled out by rescue agencies, which included the Army.
Japan earthquake
Aftermath of an earthquake in Japan.
Credit: Reuters Photo
The beginning of 2024 turned out to be devastating as a 7.7 magnitude earthquake had struck Japan's northernmost peninsula of Noto on January 1, that killed over 200 people, according to The Japan Times newspaper.
RRR actor Jr NTR was in Japan during this and upon returning to India, he had expressed his shock over Japan getting hit by the earthquake during the same time.
Hurricane Milton in Florida
Hurricane Milton.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Hurricane Milton walloped Florida's west coast on October 9 with at least 20 per cent more rain and 10 per cent stronger winds than a similarly rare storm would have done in a world that humans hadn’t warmed by burning fossil fuels, according to scientists.
Milton has topped the list as the single biggest one-off event that led to a $60 billion in damage and took lives of 25 people.
Hurricane Helene
Aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Next up is Helene, a disastrous Category 4 hurricane that had struck the US, Cuba and Mexico in September which claimed 232 lives, as per the report. The damage estimates have been recorded as $55 billion.
Typhoon Yagi
Typhoon Yagi aftermath.
Credit: Reuters Photo
In September, Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year left many dead in northern Vietnam and caused widespread damage.
Typhoon Yagi battered southwest Asia, killing more than 800 people, as per the report. Yagi made landfall on September 2 in the Philippines, before moving on to Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, where it triggered landslides, flash flooding and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and agricultural land.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 245 km per hour (152 mph) near its eye, Yagi registered as the world's second-most powerful tropical cyclone in 2024, after the Category 5 Atlantic hurricane Beryl.
Cyclone Chido
Aftermath of Cyclone Chido, in Passamainty, Mayotte, France.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Cyclone Chido devasted the islands in Mayotte, a French overseas region off the coast of East Africa in December that killed dozens of people.
Authorities last week said thousands may have died in Storm Chido when it hit the islands.
Colombia drought
Representative image of drought.
Credit: Pixabay Photo
2024 witnessed the worst drought on records that lowered the water level of the rivers in the Amazon basin to historic lows, in some cases drying up riverbeds that were previously navigable waterways.
The Solimoes, one of the main tributaries of the mighty Amazon River whose waters originate in the Peruvian Andes, fell to its lowest level on record in Tabatinga, the Brazilian town on the border with Colombia.
Reuters reported that Downriver in Tefé, a branch of the Solimoes has dried up completely.
Heatwaves
A man splashes water on his face on a hot summer day amid heatwave.
Credit: PTI Photo
Earlier this year, the Centre for Science and Environment in a report mentioned that India witnessed extreme weather events in 93 per cent of the days – 255 out of 274 days – killing over 3,200 people in just the first nine months of 2024.
Such events affected crops, destroyed lakhs of houses and killed livestock too.
Heatwaves affected 33 million people in Bangladesh too as per the report.
Wildfires in Chile
Firefighters attend a wildfire in Chile.
Credit: Reuters Photo
In February, a massive wildfire had engulfed central Chile that killed over 130 people, as per Reuters report. Chile, Argentina and other parts of South America's southern cone have faced a severe heat wave.
The extreme weather in Chile has also been exacerbated by the El Niño climate phenomenon.
Brazil flooding
A drone view shows houses in the flooded area.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Towards the end of April, heavy rains caused record floods that killed over 180 people in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Roughly half a million people fled their homes, with over 77,000 in public shelters.
China floods
An image of the collapsed bridge in Shaanxi Province, China, shared by Chinese state media, July 20, 2024.
Credit: X/@globaltimesnews
About a dozen people in China lost their lives in July this year after a bridge on a highway collapsed partially due to flash floods in Chinas Shaanxi province. In the same month, Typhoon Gaemi swept through northern Taiwan triggering flooding, before heading across the sea and into China.
Polluted Yamuna
Cattle partially covered with toxic foam, seen in the polluted Yamuna river.
Credit: PTI Photo
In October, the Yamuna in Delhi was covered with a thick layer of white froth and experts said it can pose health issues for people.
There were multiple videos circulating online that showed sections of river frothing which looked like clouds on the water. Despite it having adverse effects on health, people were seen taking bath in the holy river.
(With Reuters and PTI inputs)
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