Number of weather-related disasters to double in next 15 years - WWF Russia

"It [the number of dangerous weather events] may even double, leading to higher death tolls, especially taking into account that potentially dangerous areas, especially low-lying, are becoming increasingly populated," Alexei Kokorin told RIA Novosti.

He made the statement on the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, marked on the second Wednesday of October.

The WWF official said that though the number of other natural disasters generally remains the same, the number of victims continues to rise steadily.

"Death toll is counted in millions of people - regrettably, this is a fact. And Southeast Asia accounts for the lion's share, with densely populated low-lying areas," the expert said. Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version