Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Climate change caused by CO2 emissions already in the atmosphere will shrink global GDP in 2050 by about $38 trillion, or almost a fifth, no matter how aggressively humanity cuts carbon pollution, researchers have said in the journal Nature.

Earth has endured 12 months of temperatures 1.5C hotter than the pre-industrial era for the first time on record, Europe's climate monitor said Thursday, in what scientists called a "warning to humanity".

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is director emeritus of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), an adviser to Angela Merkel and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

With the direst warnings yet of impending environmental disaster still ringing in their ears, representatives from nearly 200 nations gather Sunday in Poland to firm up their plan to prevent catastrophic climate change, reports AFP. 

Independent - In a summer marked by global heatwaves, wildfires and drought, scientists have warned that things could get considerably worse under a future scenario dubbed "hothouse Earth".