ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃ

• A year of disasters made worse by fast-warming planet
• Hot, wet and costly: 2024 broke all the records
• Global South worst hit; struggles to cope

LONDON - Last year was the hottest on record. It was also one of the wettest.

Water-related disasters - including floods, droughts and storms - killed more than 8,700 people, forced some 40 million from their homes and cost the global economy , according to the 2024 Global Water Monitor report.

From floods in Spain and Brazil, to heavy rain, landslides and typhoons in Bangladesh and India, the world saw a dramatic rise in extremes, with experts blaming climate change for the "intensity and frequency" found in many of the disasters.

Scientists say climate change "increases the potential for " and predict more of the same in 2025.

The extremities include flash floods, excessive rainfall, droughts and storms, with the Global South particularly exposed.

Take West Africa, where killed more than and forced about a million to . Scientists said the disasters were up to 20% more intense because of human-driven climate change.

The downpours also destroyed thousands of hectares of farmland in the region.

Home to more than 400 million people, West Africa saw the largest number of its 15 countries report record-high annual soil moisture levels in 2024, sodden with the relentless rain and a run of floods.

When soil is drenched with water and diluted, it becomes unsuitable for crops or cattle.

In Nigeria, flooding and rain affected and destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of farmland, worsening food shortages.

Even those parts of the world used to extreme wet weather worsened by a fast-warming planet broke alarming new records.

According to the Global Water Monitor report, extreme rain events across the world were than during the 1995-2005 period, and the highest daily rain count was up 7.8%, too.

Bangladesh, already one of the world's , experienced severe flooding and monsoons due to persistent heavy rain and water surges from neighbouring India, with whom it shares many rivers.

The low-lying nation, home to 180 million people, saw the highest daily rainfall in 17 years, with an average of 103 mm, up from its standard rain count of 70-80 mm per day.

More than half a million people in Bangladesh were displaced and power outages plunged millions into darkness.

Financial losses were estimated at nearly $500 million, and Dhaka was forced to after losing 1.1 million metric tons of rice to flooding.

According to the Global Water Monitor, Bangladesh's wet weather is becoming "increasingly erratic".

Despite generating just , Bangladesh will fall victim to "intensifying monsoons and increased extreme weather events" as human-driven climate change continues to bite, the report said.

(Reporting by Noah Anthony Enahoro; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths.)