“Three quarters of all disasters globally are now climate-related, up from half, just a decade ago…”

[OKIsItJustMe]

It's a week old, but I don't remember seeing it…

http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/pressrel/showpressrel.php?pr=press28_09_09

News Release: 05/09

Climate Change-Related Disasters on the Rise, Exacerbated by Land Degradation

Buenos Aires, 28 September 2009. “Three quarters of all disasters globally are now climate-related, up from half, just a decade ago, and we can expect worse,” says Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In his statement to ministers attending the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification (COP 9) taking place this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Secretary-General said “these disasters are exacerbated by desertification, land degradation and drought,” which, he added, “are among the most pressing global environmental challenges of our time, threatening to reverse the gains of sustainable development that have emerged in many parts of the world over the past few years.”

Secretary-General Ban highlighted that the international community, in addressing climate change, has tended to focus on cutting green-house gas emissions, and said “tackling the issue in all its complexity also requires us to go beyond mitigation, and take into account the intrinsic linkages between desertification, land degradation and climate change.”

The only way forward, he said, is to “strengthen our ability to adapt to a changing climate.” Sustainable land management, said Mr Ban, can make a critical contribution to this because it strengthens resilience and enhances agricultural production, food security and economic development through carbon sequestration, land reclamation and efforts to combat soil loss and restore vegetation.

…