In 2025, more than 200 climate-related disasters affected more than 87.8 million people worldwide, according to preliminary figures from the International Disaster Database analyzed by Mongabay. The disasters include flash floods, landslides, severe storms, wildfires and droughts.
Drought and food insecurity impacted the largest number of people. In Syria, which faced its worst drought in 36 years, an estimated 14.5 million people were left without enough food. In Kenya, a drought in January 2025 affected food supply for more than 2 million people. In Nepal’s Madhesh province, a September drought left 1.2 million people short of food.
In late November and early December, a rare convergence of two tropical cyclones and a typhoon caused thousands of deaths across Asia, making it the deadliest tropical storm system of 2025. Indonesia reported 1,109 deaths and Sri Lanka 826, with and hundreds more in Pakistan and Thailand.
The database shows that, globally, climate-related disasters claimed more than 8,000 lives in 2025, though the actual number is likely much higher, due to missing data from several events and unreported disasters from some countries.
In October, the year’s most destructive storm, Hurricane Melissa, reached sustained wind speeds of 295 kilometers per hour (185 miles per hour) and affected millions of people across the Caribbean. It left at least 127 people dead in Jamaica, Haiti, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
Human-caused warming from burning fossil fuels made Hurricane Melissa more intense and more likely, according to World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global research network that analyzes the impact of climate change on extreme weather.
Researchers warn that events like these are pushing the limits of climate change adaptation and mitigation. Fossil fuel emissions continue to rise despite the growth in renewable energy. Although 2025 was a cooler year than 2024, due to weak La Niña conditions, it was still the third-warmest year on record.
“The events of 2025 make it clear that while we urgently need to transition away from fossil fuels, we also must invest in adaptation measures,” WWA researchers wrote in an end-of-year report. “Many deaths and other impacts could be prevented with timely action.”
They added that, “Events like Hurricane Melissa highlight the limits of preparedness and adaptation: when an intense storm strikes small islands such as Jamaica and other Caribbean nations, even relatively high levels of preparedness cannot prevent extreme losses and damage.”
Banner image: An aerial view of Black River, Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. Image by AP Photo/Matias Delacroix.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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