It’s bad news folks, but maybe this new climate change report will galvanise some real action

Analysis: As a major new climate report paints a bleak picture of a warmer world, Josh Gabbatiss asks if it will be enough to make people sit up and listen

Wildfires from California to Greece this summer were linked with the changing climate (AP)

It’s easy to become numb to stories about climate change. The headlines become more and more dramatic, the conclusions more terrifying, but it’s such a big, unwieldy topic, and who has time to be constantly worried about environmental Armageddon?

Hailed by the scientific community as a true game changer, a moment for the history books, a new climate report from the UN may have what it takes to pierce this climate apathy.

It’s not because the conclusions are particularly new. As the report is based on thousands of existing scientific studies, followers of environmental news will already be familiar with stories of coral dying, sea ice melting and Pacific islanders forced from their ancestral homes.