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UK climate secretary to tell defence experts that conflict caused by climate change risks reversing the progress of civilisation Climate change will lead to an increased threat of wars, violence and military action against the UK, and risks reversing the progress of civilisation, the energy and climate secretary Chris Huhne will say on Thursday, in his strongest warning yet that the lack of progress on greenhouse gas emission cuts would damage the UK's national interests.

The leaders of the G20 group of nations have re-affirmed their commitment to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) but failed to make any other targets for the upcoming UNFCCC climate talks in Durban.

President Barack Obama's chief climate change negotiator has issued a warning over the future of the Kyoto protocol, casting doubt on a key plank of international climate talks this December in South Africa.

Climate change remains the most divisive issue of our age. As countries prepare to meet for the latest round of international talks to stop global warming, who are the key people influencing the debate?

Climate change remains the most divisive issue of our age. As countries prepare to meet for the latest round of international talks to stop global warming, who are the key people influencing the debate?

Australia is often cited as being particularly vulnerable to climate change, with projections of longer droughts punctuated by increasingly horrendous floods. In Western Australia, rainfall has already declined by 20%, and the tragic "Black Saturday" bush fires that claimed 173 lives in 2009 were amplified by an unprecedented heatwave. It is less well known that Australia is also a coal "superpower," being the world's largest exporter of this dirtiest of all fossil fuels.

This question and answer is part of the Guardian's ultimate climate change FAQ* See all questions and answers* Read about the project A changing climate isn't inherently bad, and commentators who are sceptical about the risks posed by global warming often point to the benefits that higher temperatures could bring - such as longer growing seasons in cool countries and more efficient shipping routes through an ice-free Arctic.

The rich countries caused the problem, but it is the world's poor who suffer. The Durban climate talks must right this wrong

Action cannot be put off until the economic storm has passed. The poor countries most vulnerable to the extreme weather associated with climate change need help now

A visual map of the arguments for and against human-caused global climate change.

Devastating cyclones, floods, erosion and ruined crops have made Bangladeshis 'the most aware society on climate change in the world'

On the eve of climate talks that began last week, the UN's climate chief, Christiana Figueres, told the Guardian: "We are putting ourselves in a scenario where we will have to develop more powerful technologies to capture emissions out of the atmosphere."

Lighter-coloured crops, aerosols in the stratosphere and iron filings in the ocean are among the measures being considered by leading scientists for "geo-engineering" the Earth's climate, leaked documents from the UN climate science body show.

Our global approach to impending environmental crisis needs an urgent shakeup. Here are my suggestions for climate negotiators

There were supposed to be 50 million climate refugees by the end of last year, so where are they? New Scientist investigates

To its eternal shame, the Republican party has taken climate change denial out of the crank fringe and made it mainstream

Research says millions are displaced annually as a result of climate disasters. We must take the precautionary approach

Imagine if the world acted only when 100% scientific proof was in place. We would still be insulating buildings with cancer-causing asbestos and fuelling cars with lead additives, damaging babies' brains. The circulation in fridges would also be done by chemicals that, by thinning the Earth's protective ozone layer, would probably have led to a sharp increase in cases of skin cancer worldwide.

As the world's climate warms, will the Pacific Ocean make matters worse by dumping extra heat into the atmosphere? Ancient fossils and the latest modelling both suggest such fears may be unfounded. But there is a downside: extreme weather caused by the Pacific's shifting waters might become more common.

The climate debate rages on without progress, but a 'meeting of moderate minds' might be the answer

The world is getting warmer, countering the doubts of climate change sceptics about the validity of some of the scientific evidence, according to the most comprehensive independent review of historical temperature records to date. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, found several key issues that sceptics claim can skew global warming figures had no meaningful effect.