The lifeyears index

The standard way in which disaster damages are measured involves examining separately the number of fatalities, injuries, and people otherwise affected, as well as the financial damage that natural disasters cause. Here, we propose a way to aggregate these measures of disaster impact. This index is similar to the WHO’s calculation of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost by disease. The index, however, includes an accounting of the human consequences of the destruction of infrastructures and other capital assets. 

The idea behind this index was used as a major plotline in the sci-fi novel Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots.

1. A non-technical explanation of the index is available here.

2. A published article about the index is available here.

3. A more detailed technical description is available here.

4. An interactive dataset, used in calculating global and country-specific measures of the index, is available here.

Published papers using the index:

1. UNISDR's Global Assessment Report 2015.

2. On the Canterbury earthquakes and the Bangkok floods of 2001, here.

3. On disasters in the Pacific Islands, here. 

4. On the COVID-19 costs in 2020 compared to past disasters, here.

5. On COVID-19 costs in the Pacific, here.

6. UNDRR's Global Assessment Report 2022.

7. A Comparison of the Impact of Terrorism and Disasters, here.