Climate related extreme weather events like wildfires, floods, tornados and hurricanes have cost the world economy $2 trillion over the past decade, equaling the damage that was caused by the 2008 global economic meltdown. In the past two years, global economic damages have reached $451 billion.
In South Dakota, since 1980, there have been 35 confirmed weather and climate events that have cost the State and its citizens $1 billion or more in economic losses. This includes 13 drought events, 15 severe storm events, 4 flooding events, 2 wildfire events and 1 freeze event.