The World Bank has published its climate change report ahead of today's World Water Day. According to the report 143 million people will be forced to leave their homelands due to drought, floods, rising sea levels and various natural disasters by 2050.

The report pointed out countries in Africa, Latin America and South Asia as the places under serious threat.

Water use has increased six-fold worldwide over the past century. As climate change brings increasingly irregular rainfall, worsening droughts and higher temperatures, water scarcity will likely increase, particularly as demand for agricultural water remains high.

Two-thirds of the world's people suffer some water scarcity for part of each year, with communities dependent on agriculture worst affected.

However, there is still time to prevent the outcome of the climate change by 80 percent, as the report put it.

Investment in preparing for water crises - such as adopting more water-smart agricultural practices - could cut the need for people to migrate. Charles Iceland of the World Resources Institute said much of the world would face water scarcity by 2040 as populations and temperatures rise. Combating that would require changes including in agriculture, such as adopting water-saving drip irrigation, he said.

World Water Day, on March 22 every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water. The theme for World Water Day 2018 is "Nature for Water" - exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century.