Billions of people are in danger from climate change, U.N. report warns

russia fire
Volunteer firefighters rested west of Yakutsk, Russia in August 2021. Wildfires are getting more common in Siberia, undercutting the ability of the region's vast forests to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (Ivan Nikiforov/AP)

Ivan Nikiforov / Ivan Nikiforov

Billions of people on every continent are suffering because of climate change, according to a major new United Nations report released on Monday. And governments must do a better job of protecting the most vulnerable communities while also rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The report by nearly 300 top scientists from around the world paints a picture of a planet already transformed by greenhouse gas emissions, and teetering on the brink of widespread, irreversible damage.

“People are now suffering and dying from climate change,” says Kristie Ebi, one of the lead authors of the report and an epidemiologist at the University of Washington.