Flooding, hurricanes, droughts and heatwaves are likely to become more frequent because of climate change effects, a UN report released on Friday warns.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report concluded that climate change is creating destructive changes in global weather, as seen in recent flooding in Bangkok and droughts in the United States.
These alarming weather patterns will only become more frequent in years to come, the research suggests.
The report argues that there is at least a 66% chance that the changes in weather are man-made, the result of increased greenhouse gas emissions. A minority of climate change scientists have expressed doubt that these changes are man-made.
The report took 100 scientists and policy makers two-years to come to a conclusion. The final details are still being confirmed by governments, as the summary of the report has to be agreed in full by every nation involved.
Meanwhile aid groups involved in the report have warned that they are struggling to cope with the apparent rise in extreme weather.
"The findings of this report certainly tally with what the Red Cross Movement is seeing. We have to recognise that if the number of disasters continues to increase, the current model we have for responding to them is simply impossible to sustain," said Maarten van Aalst, director of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre in The Hague, Netherlands, and a lead author of the IPCC report.