In a report that places Nepal 11th among countries most affected by extreme weather events in the last 20 years, four of the Nepal’s neighbors are placed even higher. Prepared by Germanwatch, an independent development organization, . Bangladesh at 7, Pakistan at 8 and India at 14th in the report and Myanmar is at rank 3.

These rankings are based on a Climate Risk Index (CRI) developed by Germanwatch. It analyses quantified impacts of extreme weather events, in terms of fatalities and economic losses. It accounts for these impacts in absolute as well as relative terms.

Although India suffered 73,212 casualties during 1998-2017 and its annual average casualties during 1998-2017 was 3,660, second only to Myanmar’s 7,048, an adjustment for population places Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal above India on the list. For assessing economic impact, the CRI also looks at losses per unit GDP of each country.

These rankings are based on a Climate Risk Index (CRI) developed by Germanwatch. In a separate list that looked at CRI for 2017 alone, India is again ranked at 14, while Nepal is at 4 and Bangladesh at 9.

The report mentions massive rains that affected 40 million people and caused 1,200 deaths in these three countries in 2017. Sri Lanka, whose 20-year rank is 31, is at rank 2 in 2017 (a year in which heavy rain and landslides left more than 200 dead).

Conversely, Myanmar and Pakistan, which are among the most affected 15 for 1998-2017, improve to ranks 69 and 33 respectively for 2017. Myanmar’s position in the 20-year list is largely on account of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which left an estimated 1.40 lakh people dead.

Courtesy: Indian Express