A relentless year of disasters: a billion-dollar blow every ten days

The United States endured an extraordinary year of weather and climate disasters, with costly catastrophes striking so frequently that, by some measures, the country suffered a billion-dollar disaster roughly every ten days, in a year that set grim records for losses.

From devastating wildfires and catastrophic floods to severe storms, heat waves and hurricanes, the year delivered a relentless succession of calamities across the country. The cumulative economic toll ran into the hundreds of billions of dollars, among the highest ever recorded, straining communities, insurers and government resources.

The drumbeat of disasters underscored a trend that scientists have long warned about: as the climate warms, many types of extreme weather are becoming more frequent, more intense or both, driving up the human and economic costs. Rapid development in vulnerable areas has compounded the exposure.

Each disaster carried its own story of loss and resilience, but together they painted a picture of a nation increasingly beset by extremes, and of the mounting costs of a changing climate. The strain was felt acutely in the insurance market, where rising losses pushed up premiums and, in some high-risk areas, led insurers to pull back.

Experts warned that without both deep cuts in emissions to limit future warming and major investments in resilience and adaptation, the escalating toll of disasters would continue to climb, reshaping where and how Americans can safely live.