UN Warns of 'Abrupt' Warming

The last and most forceful of a series of UN reports on climate change unveiled today urges swift action to avoid "abrupt and irreversible" damage to the environment. Melting glaciers will cause a rapid rise in sea levels, wiping out vulnerable species and destroying water and food supplies for many of the world's poorest people, warns the report by the Nobel prize-winning UN climate change panel, the BBC reports.

In releasing the report, in Valencia, Spain, where the scientists have been meeting, Ban Ki-Moon said it set the stage for concrete action to avert catastrophe and urged cooperation at next month's climate change conference in Bali. "I come to you humbled after seeing some of the most precious treasures of our planet threatened by humanity's own hand," said the UN chief, who has been on a fact-finding trip to Antarctica and South America.