Floods, storms and other natural disasters caused global damage totaling 120 billion US dollars in the first half of 2024. 4,500 people lost their lives in the disasters. Although the losses are lower than in the first half of 2023, according to reinsurer Munich Re, they are higher than both the ten-year and thirty-year averages. „Looking at a longer period, the overall losses are clearly increasing,“ says chief climatologist Ernst Rauch. For insurance companies like Munich Re, this development means higher costs, as they have to pay out increasingly high claims.