UN Report Links Natural Disasters, Climate Change
A new United Nations report finds that climate change and El Nino had a strong influence on natural disasters in 2015. It says these phenomena affected both the number and intensity of droughts, floods and other weather-related hazards around the world.
The U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction says 32 major droughts were recorded in 2015. This is more than double the 10-year annual average. The impact was particularly serious in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Belgium-based Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters compiles the data on earthquakes, drought, floods, cyclones and other global natural disasters. After reviewing the data, the center’s director, Debarati Guha-Sapir declares 2015 to be the year of the drought.
“Over 50 million people are now affected. This will get worse in 2016. We are going to face a humanitarian disaster in 2016 and there will be a movement of population of migration.”
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