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Heatwaves, flooding and droughts will be more frequent and more intense as the world is set to hit the 1.5C global warming limit in the next 20 years, a landmark United Nations review has predicted.

The milestone scientific assessment says the rate of warming in the last 2,000 years has been “unprecedented” and it was “unequivocal” that human influence is already responsible for 1.1C of global warming since 1850.

Every inhabited region on Earth is already impacted by climate change and the report found that the accepted 1.5C limit will be met even in the best case scenario, causing more regular extreme weather events.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, more than 190 governments agreed the world should limit global warming to 2C or ideally 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Hot extremes are taking hold around the world. Pic: IPCC
Image:
Hot extremes are taking hold around the world. Pic: IPCC

The report warns that even in the best case scenarios, some changes are already locked in to our systems, including sea level rise. This will never be reversed, not even under the lowest scenario.

The language in the review is bolder than the last equivalent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN’s climate science body, which in 2013 called human influence on the climate system “clear”.

The “good news” in the report, said Dr Joeri Rogelj, climate change lecturer at Imperial College London, was that if the world did achieve net zero by 2050, there was a “significant chance” that we eventually stabilise below 1.5C.

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Lead author Dr Tamsin Edwards told Sky News: “That is something people may see as optimistic, but we’re not there, and we are on higher emissions pathways at the moment that would lead to much greater climate change.”

Unless there are “immediate, rapid and large scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions”, the 1.5C target will be beyond reach, she added.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the study made for “sobering reading” and that the next decade would be “pivotal to securing the future of our planet”.

This is the first time the influential group of scientists could say climate change is already impacting every single region on the planet.

This “major new development” is thanks to advances in attribution science – which assesses human influence on weather – said a report author Dr Friederike Otto, associate climate professor at Oxford University.

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Sky burns orange as Greek fires force evacuations

Labour’s Ed Miliband said the report “confirms in prose” what recent fires and floods had shown in picture: that “climate breakdown has already begun… and that extraordinary changes to our planet – from heavier rains and ocean acidification to glacier melt to sea-level rise – are already baked in for centuries to come”.

“Thanks to reports like this, the paths of our different futures are now mapped and modelled in front of us; and we still have a choice about the path to which we will commit ourselves and future generations,” the shadow business secretary said.

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Residents flee Greek island engulfed in flames

The IPCC investigated five future scenarios based on how much carbon dioxide the world continues to emit and what we do to compensate.

They found that even under the most optimistic pathway, which assumes “very low” emissions and achieving net zero around 2050, the world will hit 1.5 degrees in the next 20 years – though it could level off at 1.4C towards the end of the century.

In a briefing, a group of eight of the lead authors were at pains to stress that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C was not a “cliff edge”.

“The consequences get worse and worse and worse as we get warmer and warmer,” said Ed Hawkins, climate science professor at Reading University. “And so every tonne of CO2 matters and every bit of warming matters.”

As in previous years, the report will likely set the scene for this year’s annual UN climate change negotiations, COP26, in Glasgow.

Many countries including the UK have pledged by 2050 to reach net zero – which means reducing emissions as much as possible and offsetting the rest – but have been criticised for failing to match this rhetoric with action.

Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said this generation of world leaders was the “last that can afford to ignore” the “gravity of the climate crisis”.

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Cars float away in more Belgium flooding

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House swept along river in Germany floods

Dr Parr said the increased “frequency, scale and intensity of climate disasters that have scorched and flooded many parts of the world in recent months is the result of past inaction”.

“We need concrete policies to cut carbon emissions as fast as possible, phase out fossil fuels, transform our food system and deliver more cash to the countries worst hit by the climate crisis.”

Heavy rain and precipitation is affecting many regions around the world, with human influence contributing to many changes in weather and climate extremes. Pic: IPCC
Image:
A map shows how human influence is influencing rainfall and precipitation. Pic: IPCC

The report cautioned 2C warming would likely breach extreme heat thresholds for agriculture and health.

The assessment found carbon removal could reverse some of the increase in global temperatures – although a lot of this technology is unproven to work at scale, says Friends of the Earth.

Subscribe to ClimateCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Spreaker.

Sky News has launched the first daily prime time news show dedicated to climate change.

The Daily Climate Show is broadcast at 6.30pm and 9.30pm Monday to Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.

Hosted by Anna Jones, it follows Sky News correspondents as they investigate how global warming is changing our landscape and how we all live our lives.

The show also highlights solutions to the crisis and how small changes can make a big difference.

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British tourist stabbed to death outside Spanish nightclub

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British tourist stabbed to death outside Spanish nightclub

A British tourist has been stabbed to death outside a nightclub near Barcelona.

The incident happened at about 4am this morning in Calella, about 30 miles away from the city.

Police have confirmed that there was a fatality, and another person was injured and taken to hospital.

According to El Caso, there was a fight outside the Oxygen nightclub and the tourist died at the scene.

In a statement, Catalan police said it is “investigating the violent death of a 31-year-old man”.

Another man has been arrested in connection with the incident, and footage from security cameras in the area is being checked.

Sky News has contacted the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office for comment.

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Roberto Baggio: Former Italian football star robbed at gunpoint while watching Italy-Spain game

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Roberto Baggio: Former Italian football star robbed at gunpoint while watching Italy-Spain game

Retired Italian football star Roberto Baggio has been robbed at gunpoint while watching the national team play Spain at Euro 2024.

At least five armed robbers burst into Baggio’s villa near the northern city of Vicenza around 10pm local time (9pm BST) on Thursday, according to Italian media reports.

One intruder hit the 57-year-old on the head with the butt of a gun when the former player confronted them.

FILE - Italian soccer legend Roberto Baggio smiles as he attends an event at the Expo 2015 World's Fair on the occasion of the UN World Food Day in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Friday, Oct. 16, 2015. Retired Italy star Roberto Baggio was robbed at gunpoint on Thursday, June 20, 2024 at his home while watching the national team’s game against Spain at the European Championship. Italian media reports say at least five armed robbers burst into Baggio’s villa near the northern city of Vicenza around arou
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Roberto Baggio in 2015. File pic: AP

The robbers locked him and his family in a room while they stole jewellery, watches and cash during the raid, which reportedly lasted 40 minutes.

Baggio was taken to hospital and received stitches for the wound. None of his family were harmed.

Italian sports newspaper Corriere dello Sport said Baggio had a “very brief” scuffle with one of the intruders and he suffered a “deep wound” after being hit on the forehead with the weapon.

Baggio, it said, broke down the door of the room he and his family were locked in before calling police.

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He was, the paper said, “very scared”, but was not seriously hurt.

Read more on Sky News:
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Known as ‘The Divine Ponytail’ during his playing career, Baggio was a gifted attacking midfielder who played 56 games for Italy, scoring 27 goals and starring in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

Widely regarded as an all-time great, he played for Vicenza in his youth, going on to star for other Serie A clubs such as Fiorentina, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Spain won Thursday night’s Euro 2024 match, beating Italy 1-0 and securing their place in the knockout stages of the tournament in Germany.

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Jay Slater: ‘Living nightmare’ hunt for missing British teenager on Tenerife continues

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Jay Slater: 'Living nightmare' hunt for missing British teenager on Tenerife continues

Helicopters, rescue dogs and drones have continued to scour the holiday island of Tenerife for a missing British teenager as concerned family and friends endure a “living nightmare”.

The hunt for 19-year-old Jay Slater from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, is now in its fifth day.

The apprentice bricklayer was holidaying with friends on Tenerife before he disappeared on Monday.

Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

Emergency workers near the village of Masca, Tenerife.
Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

He was last heard from when he called a friend to say he was setting off on an 11-hour walk to get home, after he missed his bus.

It came as new photographs showed the property where he was last seen in the northwestern mountain village of Masca after attending the NRG music festival.

In a post on the Facebook page “Jay Slater Missing”, the administrator of the group Rachel Louise Harg said family and friends were “drained beyond words”.

She said: “There isn’t an update for anyone unfortunately.

“Struggling to find words at this time but all I can say is we are looking still and everyone is doing all they can.

“We are drained beyond words – I just can’t say no more, I wish I could.

“I wish this would end now, this living nightmare.

“Searches are ongoing and we remain positive.

“Thanks to you all supporting and helping we can’t thank you any more, much love.”

Read more on Sky News:
British tourist stabbed to death outside nightclub
Italian football legend robbed at gunpoint

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Pic: PA

Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

On Friday, search and rescue personnel joined officers from the island’s Guardia Civil near Masca to comb an area of overgrown terrain.

Teams also paid close attention to a river called Barranco Madre del Agua at the bottom of a ravine, where emergency workers carefully picked their way through fallen dead palm trees.

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Mr Slater’s friend Lucy Law, who attended the music festival with him, said he called her at about 8.30am on Monday and told her he was “lost in the mountains, he wasn’t aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on 1%”.

Meanwhile, members of the local community rallied together at a church service in his home town to express their hope of his safe return.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”

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