Climate change is contributing to record numbers of people being uprooted from their homes globally, while worsening the often already "hellish" conditions of displacement, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Climate change is helping to drive a rising refugee crisis, adding to the huge numbers already displaced by conflict, according to a United Nations report. Three-quarters of the world’s forcibly displaced people live in countries heavily affected by climate hazards,

The UN refugee agency on Tuesday warned of increasing numbers of refugees from regions that are particularly affected by climate change if investments are not made to improve the environment. The UNHCR report was presented at the UN's Climate Change Conference,