Frankfurt — Financial pain inflicted by natural disasters worldwide almost doubled in 2017, German reinsurance giant Munich Re said on Thursday, with a new record in losses from weather-related catastrophes. The year saw the worst hurricane season on record and major monsoon flooding, the company said, warning that as climate change intensified it expected "extreme weather to occur more often in the future". Losses in 2017 amounted to $330bn for all types of natural disaster globally, the financial firm said, close to double the $175bn in mayhem inflicted in 2016. The financial losses figure was the second-highest on record after 2011, and almost twice the 10-year average of $170bn. But casualty figures did not rise in step with property damage, as about 10,000 people lost their lives — 30% more than the previous year’s toll. That was a fraction of the 10-year average of 60,000 killed annually in catastrophes. About 2,700 people died in severe monsoons in South Asia, with Nepal and ...
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