World Weather disasters 'getting worse'*

Flooding has increased six-fold since the 1980s, the report says

BBC - The number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled over the
past 20 years and the world should do more to prepare for them, the aid
agency Oxfam says.

Population increases mean more people are affected when catastrophic
weather events take place, it says in a report.

Global warming is to blame for the growing number of weather disasters,
Oxfam adds.

An average of 500 such disasters are now taking place each year,
compared to 120 in the 1980s, the report says.

The number of floods has increased six-fold over the same period.

Small disasters ignored

The agency expresses particular concern about the increase in small and
medium-sized weather events, which it says affect great numbers of
people, but do not attract as much international aid as large,
well-publicised natural disasters.

The report argues that climate change is responsible for the growing
number of weather-related disasters - more intense rain, combined with
frequent droughts, make damaging floods much more likely.

You get this spiral downwards of vulnerability and destitution
John McGrath, Oxfam

The increasing number of weather events has been accompanied by large
global population increases, and Oxfam says this means more people are
being forced to live in areas which are vulnerable to the effects of the
weather changes.

"They're going to forests, to jungles, to mountains... but these are
just the very places that have been more affected by intense rain... and
that in turn actually increases the displacement... so you get this
spiral downwards of vulnerability and destitution," says Oxfam's John
McGrath.

Unless the global aid community begins preparing for the future growth
in weather-events, Oxfam warns, its ability to respond to natural
disasters will be overwhelmed.