A warm December fueled tornadoes and other storms to bring the total number of multibillion-dollar disasters to 20 for 2021, as reported by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the second-highest annual number since 1980. Damages from Hurricane Ida are estimated to be as high as $95 billion.
More than four in 10 Americans live in a county that was struck by climate-related extreme weather last year, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal disaster declarations, and more than 80 percent experienced a heat wave.
In the Southern Hemisphere, both Argentina and Australia are experiencing record-breaking heat waves, while ocean warmth set a new record high in 2021.
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