A year after IPCC's stark warnings, another month of heatwave and drought awaits

Low water levels at Holme Styes reservoir caused by prolonged dry weather in Holmfirth West Yorkshire, England. Picture: PA

A year after one of the starkest wake-up calls about the impact of global warming, Europe is bracing for another month of heatwaves, wildfires, and drought.

In the first of a three-part report on the latest climate science, the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded on August 10 last year that it is "unequivocal" that human activity is warming the planet, causing rapid and widespread changes to land, atmosphere, and oceans.