ENVIRONMENT

Database Returns; 2025 First Half Sets Record

Retired by the Trump administration in May, the Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters Database has been relaunched outside government by Climate Central, using the same methods and led by previous administrator Adam Smith, a former NOAA economist. Its first update shows the first half of 2025 is costliest since 1980, with $101.4 billion across 14 billion‑dollar events—dominated by severe thunderstorms and March tornadoes, and punctuated by January’s Los Angeles fires, a $61.2 billion disaster and the costliest U.S. wildfire. Smith says rising damages reflect human choices, as billion‑dollar events now occur nearly twice as often as the long‑term average.

Reviewed by JQJO team

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