Trends in US climate-related disasters: evidence based on fractional integration over the last forty years

Abstract This article deals with the time trend evolution of US natural catastrophes over the last forty years. However, instead of using classical methods that impose an I(0) structure for the error term, we allow for potential long memory features by using fractional integration. Count and costs series are investigated for the US as a whole but also using disaggregated data by climate regions. The results indicate the presence of time trends in the majority of the cases examined and evidence of long memory is also found in a number of climate regions.