Climate change showing its hand

Australian authors, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldburg and Lesley Hughes, who contributed to the Working Group II Fifth Assessment report (the second instalment of a three part series to reivew the latest science on the state of the Earth's climate - held a press conference here at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium yesterday.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the report detailing the projected consequences of man-made climate change - and the results say our way of life is at immediate risk.

Rising sea levels, loss of animal habitats and an increase in heat waves and droughts have been laid out in the report as a very real and immediate threat to Australia's society and economy.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Brisbane-based Australian Leading Author and specialist on Oceans, and Coral and Marine Biology, said, "Even a one degree Celsius temperature change will bring devastating impacts. Over half of the Great Barrier Reef has already disappeared in the last 27 years from ocean acidification due to carbon emissions, causing mass bleaching and death to its many ecosystems."

Here's just a few things you can do to help:

• Reduce car emissions
• Reduce energy expenditure in your home
• Reduce your 'carbon footprint' when you shop
• Recyle waste and reuse pre-loved items