Q&A: What is the IPCC report, and what has it found?

It concludes it is 'unequivocal' that human activity is warming the planet, causing rapid and widespread changes to land, atmosphere and oceans that are unprecedented for many centuries or even many thousands of years

A diver monitors the health of the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast. Coral reefs are just one ecosystem under major threat from rising global temperatures. File picture: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority via AP

What is the latest report from the IPCC?

It is the first part of a global assessment of climate science by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the sixth such assessment the UN body has conducted, with the most recent one back in 2013/14. Further reports on impacts and adapting to global warming, and solutions to the crisis set to be published next year.