Call to alert globe to perils

→ UN agency intensifies efforts to bolster global early warning systems.

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Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee climate disasters last year, the United Nations said on Wednesday, highlighting the urgent need for early warning systems covering the entire planet.

Poorer countries are severely affected by cyclones, droughts, wildfires and other disasters, according to the State of the Global Climate annual report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the UN's weather and climate agency.

The WMO said the record number of people fleeing climate disasters was based on figures from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, which has been collecting data on the subject since 2008.