A major report has given one of the strongest ever warnings about the risks of global warming.
It says governments need to take urgent action to stop the rise in global temperatures rising above 1.5ºC.
Experts believe that would help limit changes such as declining coral reefs and seal level rises.
The report was signed off by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) following a meeting in South Korea this weekend.
“Limiting warming to 1.5ºC is possible within the laws of chemistry and physics but doing so would require unprecedented changes,”
Jim Skea, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III, Incheon🇰🇷, 8 October 2018#ipcc #sr15 #ipcc30 #climatechange pic.twitter.com/qbblAK4whG— IPCC (@IPCC_CH) October 8, 2018
They warn that "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society" are needed to stop global warming of 2ºC or higher.
They say that while limiting the change is possible, actions already underway to tackle climate change will need to quickly accelerate.
Debra Roberts, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II, noted: "The next few years are probably the most important in our history.”
"The good news is that some of the kinds of actions that would be needed to limit global warming to 1.5ºC are already underway around the world, but they would need to accelerate"
Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair WGI#sr15 #ipcc #climatechange pic.twitter.com/3ohN5uhrOR— IPCC (@IPCC_CH) October 8, 2018
Responding to the report, Irish climate change expert Prof John Sweeney explained: “For Ireland, overshooting 1.5ºC would accentuate our emerging problems of climate extremes and damage the economic prospects of our current young people.
"The report confirms that only by undertaking radical steps today to decarbonise our societies can we leave a legacy of a sustainable world for the next generation.”