The recent spate of extreme weather events around the globe shows that man-made climate change is an immediate and growing threat. The science is clear, global warming is driving more severe heatwaves, floods and storms and accelerating sea level rise. Every corner of the globe is now affected. Yet in a world beset with so many problems - from the Russian invasion and war in Ukraine to soaring inflation - it might be tempting to park action on climate change to one side and deal with it later. It is human nature to deal with the most pressing issues first and tackle things perceived to be less urgent or too challenging later on.

But that would be a mistake. Such reasoning is tough to accept for the millions of people in South Asia, for instance, who were hit first by a months-long heatwave and now by deadly flooding. Such disasters will become more severe and more frequent as more greenhouse gases are pumped into the air. How much worse things become depends on the actions taken now, the United Nations says.