"UN Warns of 'Megadisasters' Linked To Climate Change"

"Geneva -- The United Nations on Tuesday raised the prospect of 'megadisasters' affecting millions of people in some of the world's biggest cities unless more is done to heed the threat of climate change.

'We are going to see more disasters and more intense disasters as a result of climate change,' UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said at the opening of a four-day conference on reducing disaster risks.

The Red Cross joined the UN in urging more investment to ensure that cities, villages and small communities were better prepared for natural disasters that are being amplified by global warming.

Natural and man-made disasters killed nearly a quarter of a million people in 2008 and warnings about looming disasters, particularly climate change, are not being heeded, the Red Cross said."

AFP had the story June 16, 2009.