Devastating floods will affect about two-billion people by 2050 because of climate change, deforestation, rising sea levels and population growth in flood-prone lands, the United Nations (UN) University said in a study released yesterday.

The UN University, a think tank for the world organisation based in Tokyo, says in the study that already one-billion people, or one-sixth of total world population, live in lands known for recurring floods. The number is expected to double by 2050 due to continuing deforestation, rising sea levels caused by climate change and population growth. World population is expected to grow to more than nine-billion by that date.

The study is released to coincide with the opening tomorrow in Bonn of the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), whose main purpose is to advance the study of and seek measures to reduce the impact of natural disasters on humans. The study says currently more than 500 000 people worldwide live in flooded lands, causing 25 000 deaths a year, extensive homelessness, diseases in crops and livestock. Asian lands are more vulnerable to flooding than countries in any other regions, affecting more than 400-million people.

The study says 44% of severe flood events in the world happened in Asia between 1987 and 1997, causing economic losses totalling $136-billion. - Sapa-dpa