Climate change

Report: 2025's First-Half Climate Disasters Costliest Ever in the US

Published OCT 23 2025

Story

Above: Workers clear debris from a business destroyed in the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Oct. 14, 2025. Image credit: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

The Facts

According to newly published data from Climate Central, 14 separate weather disasters in the U.S. caused $101.4 billion in damages during the first six months of 2025, allegedly making it the most expensive first half of any year since tracking began in 1980.
The New York Times
France 24
The Weather Channel on Youtube
Climate Central
The Trump administration discontinued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database in May, citing evolving priorities and staffing changes, while Climate Central recreated the tracking system.
Guardian
USA Today
Climate Central
Adam Smith, who led NOAA's billion-dollar disaster program for 15 years before resigning in May, now continues the analysis at Climate Central using the same methodology and data sources that the federal government previously employed.
Fox Weather
CNN
Climate Central
The Los Angeles wildfires in January caused over $60 billion in damages, destroyed nearly 20,000 properties and became the costliest wildfires in United States history, almost doubling the previous record. They account for over half of the extreme weather costs cited by Climate Central in the first half of 2025.
Fox Weather
USA Today
TRT World
The average number of billion-dollar disasters increased from three per year in the 1980s to 19 per year in the last decade. Meanwhile, U.S. population growth in vulnerable areas reportedly contributed to rising damage costs.
Fox Weather
The New York Times
TRT World
The Climate Central team plans to expand the tracker to include events causing at least $100 million in losses, capturing smaller and mid-sized disasters that still have "life-changing impacts on lives and livelihoods."
France 24
The Wire
Verge

Sources Split

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

President Donald Trump's war on climate science is literally killing Americans while disasters explode to record levels. His administration axed the federal disaster tracking system right as 2025 became the costliest year ever, with $101 billion in damage from 14 separate billion-dollar disasters. While cities burn and families drown, Trump silenced the scientists and gutted FEMA — leaving America defenseless against climate catastrophe.

Occupy Democrats on X

Climate-skeptic narrative

Climate extremists have destroyed environmental credibility with decades of failed doomsday predictions, cutting American environmentalist identification in half since 1991. Trump's practical approach is working with $100 million in wetland investments and bipartisan conservation initiatives that 95% of Americans support. Real environmental progress comes from expanding energy sources and restoring ecosystems, not radical stunts and baseless climate agreements.

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