"In 2008, 100 million additional people fell into poverty and hunger, mainly as a result of a global rise in food prices and the impact of climate change"

Irish Aid Annual Report 2008

Key Climate Change Statistics and Projections

• The area of the world stricken by drought has doubled between 1970 and the early 2000s.
• By 2020 in some countries in sub Saharan Africa yields from rain fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50%. 
• Also by 2020 in Sub Saharan Africa, up to 250 million are expected to be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change.
• A new report from the International Food Policy Research Institute projects that in 2050, there will be 25 million additional malnourished children compared to a scenario without climate change.
• 73% of disasters in the last century were climate related; 94% of these disasters and 97% of disaster-related deaths occurred in developing countries.
• Climate change brings the risk of increases in serious diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and polio. Longer rainy seasons have already led to increased malaria in parts of Rwanda and Tanzania.