“The number of weather, climate and water extremes are increasing and will become more frequent and severe in many parts of the world as a result of climate change,” claimed Petteri Taalas, the head of the World Meteorological Organization, last year.
This is a claim commonly made by people advocating more regulation of energy use to prevent climate change.
But that claim is untrue, judging by weather trends over the last 20 years. “The data show that from 2000 to 2021, the number of global weather and climate disasters declined by about 10%, which is very good news and completely contrary to conventional wisdom,” notes scientist Roger Pielke. “The period since 2000 is viewed as the most reliable for data reliability, but it is safe to say that even since 2000, coverage has improved. So the 10% decline is possibly an underestimate.”
