"COVID-19 has of course aggravated these impacts, with a taste of the compound shocks we're expecting in a changing climate," Maarten van Aalst, director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "The pandemic has not only complicated evacuations and disaster response, but also aggravates the economic impact of disasters, especially for the poorest people," he added. The agency expected that such impacts "will get worse due to climate change", she told journalists earlier this month. INCOMES SUFFERHome to about 60% of the world's population, the Asia-Pacific region has borne the brunt of climate disasters, with many people living in vulnerable conditions due to poverty and poor urban planning. "People are used to storms and floods right across Asia, but this year has tested the resilience of tens of millions of people to breaking point," said the IFRC's Letch.

Source: bd News24 December 16, 2020 00:56 UTC