Doomsday climate change report warns of devastating future of heatwaves and drought

A stark new climate crisis report from the UN has warned of a humanity-threatening rise in temperatures - following "unequivocal" evidence human activity is warming the planet.

The paper, produced by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is the starkest warning yet about the speed and scale of warming - caused by human activity which is damaging the world at an alarming rate.

Experts said the report, which is hoped will trigger a "turning point" in the run-up to the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in November, paints a "devastating" picture.

An interim report, in 2018, said global warming was likely to reach 1.5C between 2030 and 2052. This report brings this window forward by a decade to between 2021 and 2040.

It warns how climate change is already affecting every region across the globe and that without urgent action to limit warming, heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and loss of Arctic Sea ice, snow cover and permafrost, will all increase while carbon sinks will become less effective at slowing the growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The message in the latest report is expected to be even stronger, with warnings of how soon global temperatures could rise 1.5C above pre-industrial level ( AFP via Getty Images)

It also highlights that cutting global emissions, starting immediately, to net zero by mid-century would give a good chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C in the long-term and help to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Professor Albert Klein Tank, Director of the Met Office Hadley Centre, said: “This report paints the starkest picture yet of the global and regional impacts of climate change. Time is short to avert the worst impacts of climate change, but the report also reminds us there is no scientific reason to delay action.

"The case is clear. More focussed projections of future climate change are making some more optimistic outcomes even more challenging, and that should be a warning to all.

“Both Met Office science and our scientists have played a pivotal role in the development of this latest IPCC report, as we have done for the last 30 years since the production of the IPCC’s first report. It is time now for everyone to listen to that science.”

Produced by 200 scientists from 60 countries, the report is the first comprehensive assessment of the physical science of climate change since 2013.

Governments have signed off on the findings - and pressure will be on them to take more action at global climate talks known as Cop26 which are being held in Glasgow in November ( AFP via Getty Images) A presentation at the IPCC Press Conference showing a rise in global temperatures ( IPCC)

Professor Stephen Belcher is the Met Office’s Chief Scientist added: “This latest scientific assessment report paints an alarming picture of the drivers of climate change impacts that are disrupting our planet and society. It confirms that from the edge of space to the ocean depths human-driven climate change is affecting every region of our planet and every part of the climate system.

“In 2015 in Paris, the world came together to agree a commitment to keep global temperature rise below 2.0°C with an additional aspiration to keep below 1.5°C.

"This latest assessment suggests that without urgent action the opportunity to stay below the 1.5°C threshold is rapidly expiring.

“This report is the starkest yet and presents overwhelming evidence to the delegates of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November that without urgent action we won’t avoid the worst impacts of climate change.”

A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by farmers in Rio Pardo, Rondonia, Brazil ( REUTERS)

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “As we look around the world at the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves, heavy rainfall and wildfires, we should recognise that these are exactly the consequences warned about in previous IPCC reports.

"We ignore this new report at our own peril. It is time to stop entertaining the bogus arguments of those who continue to deny the risks of climate change, and falsely claim that cutting greenhouse gas emissions is too difficult and expensive. It is time for the world to become much smarter about climate change.”

Professor Joanna Haigh added: “The UK has experienced severe flooding that has submerged roads and created havoc for hospital and transport systems, as well as unseasonable and sweltering high temperatures.

A whirlwind of hot ash and embers moves through a wildfire, dubbed the Cave Fire, burning in the hills of Santa Barbara, California ( REUTERS)

"It is in this context that the IPCC today publishes a report providing even greater evidence of the role of human produced greenhouse gases in causing global heating â€" it is ‘unequivocal’.

“Governments must rapidly introduce policies and measures to reduce emissions by around 50% over the rest of this decade to avoid an ongoing breach of the 1.5°C target, which is still possible, but only just. Key to keeping 1.5C ‘alive’ will be a marked reduction in the release of highly-potent methane emissions, which could rapidly slow temperature rise. “

The IPCC used its strongest terms yet to assert that humans are causing climate change, with the first line of its report summary reading: "It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the
atmosphere, ocean and land."

Flood waters lap at a high water warning sign that was partially pushed over by Hurricane Florence on Oak Island, North Carolina, U.S. ( REUTERS)

The stark language marked a shift from previous IPCC reports, which had said it was "extremely likely" that industrial activity was to blame.

"There is no uncertainty language in this sentence, because there is no uncertainty that global warming is caused by human activity and the burning of fossil fuels," said IPCC co-author Friederike Otto, a climatologist at University of Oxford.

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