In the 20th Century, 10 million people died as a result of natural catastrophes.

The UN named the 1990’s the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.  Instead it may go down as the Decade of Disasters:

§ Natural disasters in the 1990s caused over US $608 billion in economic losses—five times the figure in the 1970s, and 15 times the total in the 1950s (p.12).

§ The 1990s saw 86 great disasters (major natural catastrophes requiring outside assistance due to extensive deaths or losses).  The 1950s saw 20, the 1970s 47. (p.8)

§ Between 1985 and 1999 more than 560,000 people died in natural disasters.  Only four percent were in industrial countries (p.8). (See also: Deaths by Region p.10 and Deaths by Disaster Type p.11)

Asia has been hardest hit by natural disasters (p.9).  Asia’s tally between 1985 and 1999:
§ 90 percent of all people affected by disasters 
§ 77 percent of deaths from disasters
§ 45 percent of recorded economic losses from disasters. 
 
 

§ Between 1985 and 1999, the world’s wealthiest countries sustained 57.3 percent of the measured economic losses to disasters, representing 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the same years the world’s poorest countries endured 24.4 percent of the economic toll of disasters, representing 13.4 percent of their GDP (Figure 5, p.14).

§ During the 20th century global average sea level rose by 10 – 20 centimeters.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that sea levels will rise another 9-88 centimeters by 2100. (p.38).  Among other impacts, some 75-200 million more people will be flooded by storm surges each year.

§ Projected disaster-related impacts of climate change:  See Figure 6 (p.32 Map) and Table 1 (p.39) Potential land loss and population exposed by sea level rise in selected countries.