As pictures of fires and floods dominate media stories across the world, the UN's climate science panel will release much-anticipated predictions for temperature and sea-level rises today. The report comes less than three months ahead of a key climate conference in Scotland.
On August 6, 195 nations endorsed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) comprehensive assessment of past and future warming in the form of a "summary for policymakers" after two weeks of virtual negotiations.
The text, which was examined and approved line by line, word by word, is expected to present a dark image of growing climate change and looming threats.
Following devastating floods in India, China, and northern Europe, as well as asphalt-melting heatwaves in North America and southern Europe, the IPCC's report is the first of its kind since 2014.
The sixth edition in this series will be divided into four volumes, the first of which will be released today and will discuss the physical science behind climate change. The review will go on to discuss the consequences and alternatives.
Can future temperature changes be really predicted?
Many analysts believe that significant advances in science have occurred in the previous few years.
"Our models have become better, we have a better grasp of the physics, chemistry, and biology, and so they're able to forecast and estimate future temperature changes and precipitation changes far better than they used to," said WWF observer Dr Stephen Cornelius.
"Another difference is that attribution sciences have grown dramatically in the last several years, allowing us to establish stronger linkages between climate change and extreme weather events."
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What can be expected?
In addition to updates on temperature forecasts, there will almost certainly be a heavy emphasis on the topic of humanity's involvement in causing the climate catastrophe.
The IPCC stated in its most recent report in 2013 that humans had been the "primary cause" of global warming since the 1950s.
The message in the most recent study is anticipated to be much harsher, with warnings about how quickly global temperatures may increase 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. According to experts, the effects of climate change are considerably more severe when the increase exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The IPCC is anticipated to outline how big of an impact humans are having on the oceans, atmosphere, and other elements of our planetary systems this time.
One of the most pressing issues is sea-level elevation. This has long been a controversial subject for the IPCC, with earlier estimates criticised as being too cautious by some experts.
But, what exactly is IPCC?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a United Nations organisation established in 1988 to review climate change science.
The IPCC provides countries with scientific knowledge that they may utilise to build global warming policy.
In 1992, the first of its comprehensive Assessment Reports on climate change was published.