Is climate change reversible, is it the same as global warming and is it caused by humans?
Greenhouse gases are believed to be higher now than in the last 650,000 years
CLIMATE change has been a touchy topic of conversation more than ever before, and unless tackled quickly, it can destroy the planet we live on.
But is climate change reversible and is it caused by humans? Here's what we know.
Is climate change reversible?
Sir David Attenborough has warned climate change will destroy civilisation unless it is tackled quickly.
His ominous message was delivered to world leaders at the United Nations’ environmental talks in Poland.
Sir David, 92, declared: “Time is running out.”
He warned: “Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change.
“If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon."
Greenhouse gas emissions must be slashed by 45 per cent by 2030 to hit the target.
The World Bank has pledged £157billion over five years to support countries taking action against climate change.
Climate change can be reversed if immediate action is taken.
Is it the same as global warming?
Global warming describes a set of changes to the climate that is causing the Earth to heat up.
This rising of the Earth's temperature is often talked about in the context of the "greenhouse effect" to explain the damage being wreaked on our planet.
Without the greenhouse effect the Earth's surface would be an average of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler, and therefore unlivable.
The effect allows gases in but keeps heat from escaping from the earth, like the glass walls of a greenhouse.
Is it caused by humans?
Over the past century humans have aggravated the greenhouse effect by dramatically increasing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Human sources of CO2 come from activities such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
Since the Industrial Revolution the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has rocketed by a third.
This rapid rise has had a direct impact on the Earth's average temperature, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
In December 2018, a study "comprehensively disproved" the "myth" of a pause in global warming that took supposedly place between 1995 and 2013.
This period – believed to have lasted a decade and a half – was held up as evidence that humans might not be causing significant climate change.
Dr James Risbey, of CSIRO Australia, lead author on one of the studies, said: "Many studies over the past decade have claimed to find a pause or slowdown in global warming and have typically posited this as evidence that is inconsistent with our understanding of global warming."
How is it affecting the UK?
Experts have warns that entire towns in the UK may have to be abandoned because of the threat of flooding.
The Environment agency said communities near the coast of rivers could be forced to move as the average global temperature rises up to 4C.
Agency chairwoman Emma Howard Boyd warned "we cannot win a war against water" by building ever-higher flood defences, and efforts are needed to make communities more resilient to flooding.
She said: "In some places, the scale of the threat may be so significant that recovery will not always be the best long term solution.
"In these instances, we will help communities to move out of harm's way.
"The coastline has never stayed in the same place and there have always been floods, but climate change is increasing and accelerating these threats.”
What effect is it having on earth?
The rise in the average global temperature has already had a demonstrable impact.
Greenhouse gases are believed to be higher now than in the last 650,000 years.
Melting glaciers, rising sea levels and dying cloud forests have all been directly linked to climate change.
Humans too are already suffering directly - with deadly heatwaves and catastrophic flooding becoming a regular occurrence.