Violent and deadly weather events have affected about 80% of the US population, that is, more than 240 million people — over the past six years, says a recent report by the environmental advocacy group Environment America, reports Doyle Rice at USA Today. The report used data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Under global warming, such extreme weather is predicted to occur with increasing frequency through human-driven climate change, the group said. 2011 was particularly awful, with at least 14 weather and climate disasters across the US, each inflicting more than $1 billion in damage. They included outbreaks of devastating tornadoes in central and southern USA, the ongoing drought in the southern Plains, massive river flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and batterings from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Earthquakes and volcanoes were not included. “I think their analysis of the FEMA data is correct,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground, who was not part of the report. During that time, weather-related disasters have been declared in every US state except South Carolina, and weather-related disasters affected every county in 18 states.
Source
Wicked weather: 80% of Americans affected by violent weather over past 6 years. Violent and deadly weather events have affected more than 240 million Americans — about 80 percent of the nation’s population — over the past six years, says a report from an environmental advocacy group. USA Today By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/extremes/story/2012-02-16/extreme-weather-climate-change-global-warming/53116220/1
