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the impact of, for example, a fl ood is more obvious and faster detected than the
impact of poor air quality. Even though the waters might recede soon, the impacts
can have similar long-lasting consequences that affect several sectors. In the exam-
ple of the fl oods in Pakistan in 2010, the agricultural production of the inundated
land was severely decreased and potentially lost forever.
Defi nitions of individual hazards vary widely depending on their focus. Drought,
for example, is characterized by the climate science community as “[a] period of
abnormally dry weather long enough to cause serious hydrological imbalance […]”
(IPCC
2012b
). Depending on the organization, drought can also be defi ned with a
meteorological (e.g., precipitation), agricultural (e.g., soil moisture), hydrological
(e.g., water cycle), or socioeconomic (e.g., impact on society and economy) focus
(UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
2012a
). The World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) however chose the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) as
a global standard to identify droughts (UNISDR
2011a
). Defi nitions of other haz-
ards are similarly varied. As a consequence, the classifi cation/typology of individ-
ual disasters can differ between disaster recording agencies (Tschoegl et al.
2006
).
Due to this lack of common classifi cation, the number and severity of extreme
events reported varies with the defi nition and the agency (e.g., NatCatSERVICE
(Munich RE) recorded events vs. recorded events of the Emergency Event Database
(EM-DAT maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
(CRED))) and tracking the incidents is hence diffi cult (IPCC
2012a
; Tschoegl et al.
2006
). In order to overcome this defi ciency, in 2007, CRED and Munich RE
started an initiative to create a common “Disaster Category Classifi cation and Peril
Terminology for Operational Databases.” This ongoing initiative marks a fi rst step
toward a standardized and internationally recognized classifi cation and so far
brought together CRED, Munich RE, Swiss RE, Asian Disaster Reduction
Centre, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Munich
2011
;
Below et al.
2009
).
The next section will summarize the main fi ndings regarding the infl uence that
climate change has had on past trends and might have on future projections.
2.2
Impact of Climate Change on Future Hazards
Natural hazards that lead to disasters can cause tremendous impacts on societies, the
environment, and economic wealth of the affected countries. Sectors that are closely
related to climate, such as agriculture, tourism, and water, are facing a great burden by
extreme events (IPCC
2012a
). Some forms of climate extreme events have been on
the rise over the last few decades. What is their link to human-caused climate change
and how will a changing climate affect the occurrence of hazards in the future? Are
past disasters going to be the future's norm? This section draws largely from the
special report on extreme events (SREX) (IPCC
2012a
) as well as from the Working
Group I contribution to the 5th IPCC Assessment Report (
2013
). This chapter also
features a focus on tropical cyclones and their relationship with climate change.
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