Sri Lanka ranked second most affected country due to climate change

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Sri Lanka was ranked second in a report that considers countries most affected by Climate change in the year 2017 as per the Global Climate Risk Index 2019. The 2019 Global Climate Risk Index was presented at the United Nations Environment summit in Poland. As per the Index, Puerto Rico is the worst affected by climate changes while the Dominican Republic holds the third place on the report. As per the report, a total of 76 deaths that occurred in Sri Lanka during 2017 have been directly attributed to climate change. The report shows that the monsoon rains which cause floods and landslides contribute largely to this number. The number of displaced persons are estimated to be around 600,000. The report states that around 20,000 people in the Ratnapura district alone have been displaced owing to adverse weather.