"Extreme weather events, supercharged by climate change, affected some 62 million people around the world in 2018, the United Nations' weather agency said Thursday.

In its yearly "State of the Climate" report, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said the planet's biggest weather woes last year were floods (which swamped some 35 million people), and droughts, which affected another 9 million.

Since 1998, about 4.5 billion around the world have been hurt by extreme weather.

“We have seen a growing amount of disasters because of climate change,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas."

Doyle Rice reports for USA TODAY March 29, 2019. [2]