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Scientists have identified a number of hotspots around the world that could trigger fundamental changes in the global climate, including:

Amazon rainforest: Changes in the Sahara could reduce the fertility of the Amazon region, speeding up destruction of the rainforest.

North Atlantic ocean current: Melt-water from Arctic ice sheets could slow the North Atlantic ocean current, leading to cooling in northern Europe.

Asian monsoon: Changes to weather systems in the Atlantic could have a serious effect on the reliability of Asia’s annual rainfall.

Sahara desert: Dust from the Sahara fertilises the Amazon, but if the region gets wetter, there will be less soil erosion and more chance of plants returning to the Sahara.

Scientists are working to understand how such hotspots could affect the climate – and what impact climate change will have on the hotspots themselves.

The IPCC’s fourth report, issued in 2007, highlighted the growing evidence of observed climate change from around the world and looked at future predictions.

Its evidence is based on a consensus among the scientists involved. It is mainstream thinking – endorsed by international governments – and as such it can err on the side of caution. Some have suggested that the IPCC is in fact presenting a ‘bestcase scenario’, underplaying the evidence for more violent climate change. One author based at the Met Office Hadley Centre Richard Betts says that means that the result is ‘bullet proof’ in terms of the certainty of the science it contains. ‘When I read this [the IPCC report] for the first time I did feel fear – I had worked on it for three years and I knew it was right,’ he says.