A dramatic rise in disaster events is attributed to global warming by leading aid agencies who have issued reports recently. Looking back on 2007, an Oxfam director said that "This is no freak year" and that it was part of a pattern of less predictable weather events. The NGO MapAction is anticipating more weather-related emergencies in future.  

Floods and other natural hazards affected more than 250 million people around the world in 2007, according to leading aid agencies. This represents a rise of 400% in disaster events within two decades, and the Red Cross says it has seen an increase from 200 to 50 disasters each year, since three years ago. As reported by Reuters Alertnet, IFRC's Peter Rees commented: "Tackling climate change...is about increasing disaster preparedness. This is happening now". 

MapAction's operational record this year exhibits a sharp increase in weather-related missions: the NGO has deployed personnel to storm and flood emergencies in Pakistan, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Jamaica and Mexico. MapAction's Director David Spackman remarked: "We have been extremely busy since July and we expect to get busier over time with these types of emergencies. At the same time, we wish to do more to create capacity within countries that are increasingly disaster-prone, to use GIS themselves to plan for and respond to sudden emergencies."