Facts that mean we must act..

Launch of our climate panel

The increase in the oceans’ temperatures means that we are set to lose between

70% and

90% of the world’s coral reefs.

Globally, the six warmest years on record were notched up in the last seven years – and it is predicted that by 2050, the UK is facing a trebling of deaths caused by heat.

A study found 68% of all extreme weather events, including droughts, flooding, hurricanes and tropical storms, were either made more likely to occur or more severe.

The Arctic ice cap has been shrinking in every single successive decade since

1979.

More than 1.1 billion people – 17% of the population – could face life with severe shortages of water.

CLIMATE change is the defining issue of our age. The world is heating up and, unless it is reversed, it will have devastating consequences.

Species are threatened with extinction and huge areas of the world could become uninhabitable.

Tackling it is going to require major changes to the way we live.

Which is why the Daily

Mirror has established an expert panel to guide our coverage on this issue.

Chaired by Chris Packham, it comprises Doug Parr of Greenpeace, Dr Tamsin Edwards of King’s College London, Dr Nathalie Pettorelli of the Zoological Society, Mike Childs of Friends of the Earth and author Dr Emily Grossman.

We are also inviting you to attend a special session in London on November 4. If you have any questions to put to the panel, email features@mirror.co.uk with “Climate Crisis Question” in the subject. Here, we look at 21 ways the climate crisis is changing the planet…

There has been a 60% decline in wildlife populations in 40 years. A report found that of 976 species, 47% of extinctions could be blamed on the effects of climate change.

Illegal logging, fires and deforestation have led to 20% of the Amazon rainforest vanishing in the past

50 years.

Oceans are dying, with 30% of sharks and rays and 27% of crustaceans on the brink. Rising temperatures and pollution have created 500 dead zones – areas without oxygen and life. 800 coastal homes in the

UK could be lost by 2034 says The Environment Agency. Sea levels are set to rise by 80cm by the end of the century.

Rising temperatures threaten to destroy crops. Wheat is forecast to fall by 3.1% and 8.9%, rice between 3.2% and 3.7% and maize by between 2.9% and 11.9%.

The World

Bank has warned that there could be 140million climate change migrants by 2050.

Floods in the UK have become more frequent. In 2000, we had the highest level of rainfall since records began at 337.3mm, topping the 330.7mm of 2012. This year saw the UK experience the hottest temperature since records began. It was 38.7C at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden on Thursday, July 25. Our cities are getting hotter and hotter. A rise in the global temperatures of only 1.5C will end up leaving 350 million people at the risk of heat stress. Glaciers in Central Europe, Caucasus, North Asia, Scandinavia, the Andes, eastern Africa and Indonesia are expected to lose 80% of their mass by 2100. EXPERTS Dr Grossman & TV’S Chris have joined Mirror panel Farming will suffer if the the climate crisis continues. If global temperatures rise by 2C it will see a fall in livestock production by between 7% and 10%. CATASTROPHE Melting ice caps will cause sea to rise Experts predict that climate change could force between three and 16 million people into extreme poverty because of rising food prices and crop failures. Over the past 100 years, some 50% of wetlands have been lost – with warmer climates and more severe weather believed to be primarily to blame. According to a 2016 report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, climate change will cause global food prices to rise 20%. The World Bank has estimated there could be 140million climate change migrants by 2050 because of high temperatures, crop failures and flooding. Crop failures and the increased risk of flooding could lead to mass migration across the globe. CAMPAIGNS The Mirror has history of highlighting issue