Second warmest year on record cost the world US$210b

A sign warns of elevated fire danger in the Oakland Hill area of Oakland, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. An increasing amount of Californians have been dropped by their regular insurers after years of devastating wildfires that cost billions of dollars and upended the market. Photographer: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg

THE second-warmest year on record brought storms, fires and floods that killed at least 8,200 people and cost the world $210 billion in losses, according to a report by Munich Re.

The insurer is still calculating where 2020 ranks against other calamitous years but said damages last year exceeded those of 2019, which saw $166 billion in losses.