Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious threats to global sustainable development, with adverse impacts predicated for the environment, human health, food security, economic activity, natural resources and physical infrastructure.
Global climate varies naturally, but scientists agree that rising concentrations of anthropogenically produced greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere are leading to changes in the climate.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Synthesis Report (2007) concludes "warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level." Global ecosystems are showing signs of warming with average temperatures on Earth having warmed by about 0.76°C over the last 100 years.
The IPCC's Third Assessment Report (2001) predicts global temperature rises by the end of the century of between 1.4°C and 5.8°C. Climate change, even at the lower end of this prediction, poses significant direct and indirect threats that will have far-reaching implications from a local to global scale.