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Extreme weather events, driven largely by rising global temperatures, are increasing in both their frequency and impact. In the coming years, climate change is expected to further increase the severity and frequency of weather-related natural hazards such as storms, intense rainfall, floods, droughts and heat-waves. From 1997 to 2006, more than 2.6 billion people were affected by hazards mostly related to weather extremes, causing over 1.2 million deaths and damage costing some US$8OO billion. Future predictions are that this situation is likely to worsen.