But already, just a 1°C increase in the world’s average temperature has had a severe impact on some of our planet’s species.

And it is expected to get a lot worse unless we all take urgent action.

As the Earth warms, the oceans are warming

Just a 1°- 2°C rise in temperature causes corals to bleach, which if sustained, causes corals to die.

Bleached coral

An estimated 25 – 50% of the world’s corals have already been destroyed.

With ‘business as usual’, by 2050, up to 85% of coral reefs could be lost.

By 2100 all coral reefs will be gone unless emissions are significantly reduced now

The reefs, the rainforests of the seas, could be totally wiped out this century, affecting a quarter of all marine fish species, which rely on them.

In the Arctic polar bears are starving

The loss of sea ice, due to global warming, is affecting their ability to hunt and feed.

The polar bears use the sea ice as a hunting platform. Without the ice they can’t catch the seals – so no ice means scarce food.

Bonnie Bon/Shutterstock

As the sea ice is melting earlier and earlier in the year, polar bears are being forced to swim greater and greater distances, searching for prey, burning up calories and body weight.

One female polar bear, swam 420 miles over 9 days searching for seals. Her weight decreased by 20% and she lost her cub, which perished on the way.

More than 30% of the polar bear population could be lost by 2060, as the ice melts away beneath them.

1 million animal and plant species face extinction in the coming decades –
with climate change a key cause.