Jökulsárlón, Iceland. Striated ice that emerged after the retreat of the Vatnajökull glacier. The 8100sq.km Vatnajökull ice cap is the largest ice cap in Europe and is fast retreating as the climate warms. The 300-some glaciers that cover more than 10 per cent of Iceland are losing an average of 11 billion tonnes of ice a year.

Victoria, Australia. Drought, fierce winds and 47°C temperatures led to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, which killed over 170 people and millions of animals and plants. The intensity and frequency of bushfire conditions is rising in south-eastern Australia.

Lake Hume on the New South Wales-Victoria boarder. Crazed mud and skeletal trees create a stark landscape after severe drought. The Millennium Drought, which some estimates date roughly from 2000 to 2010, was the worst recorded since settlement. In southern Australia, rainfall is in decline, while heat waves and drought are becoming more frequent.

Hvalnes, Iceland. In Iceland warming is begining to melt some of its permafrost. Permafrost holds around 1400 gigatonnes of carbon, nearly twice as much as the current atmosphere and melting permafrost releases that carbon, further amplifying the effects global warming.

Aldeyjarfoss waterfall, Iceland. Iceland is one of the fastest-warming places on the planet – as much as four times the Northern Hemisphere average.

Háifoss, Iceland. High-tension power cables snake above an apparently pristine environment. Changes in glacial runoff are one of the most significant consequences of future climate change in Iceland, as changing flows will impact the hydropower industry and other infrastructure

Tacloban, Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan. A teenage girl stands on the kitchen counter of her shattered family home. Typhoon Haiyan was, according to experts at NASA, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones to ever make landfall. It was 370 miles wide, hammering the Philippines with sustained winds of 315km/h, and gusts reaching over 375km/h. Although long-term data on tropical typhoons in the region is sparse, many scientists believe extreme storms like Typhoon Haiyan are more likely in the future as warmer surface waters will provide more energy for the storms that form.

A salt factory worker in Chittagong, Bangladesh. South Asia, including Bangladesh, will be among the regions hardest hit by climate change. Higher temperatures, more extreme weather and rising sea levels will impair development and poverty reduction efforts. These climatic shifts, coupled with high population density, could exacerbate existing environmental, humanitarian, and security challenges. With most of its territory less than 12m above sea level, Bangladesh is rated by leading international risk analysis firm Maplecroft as the world’s most vulnerable country to climate change.

Coal-fired power station, Australia. Australia’s coal-intensive economy means our per capita emissions are among the highest in the developed world. Recently, however, Australia’s electricity emissions have been falling. Around 14 per cent of our power now comes from renewable sources.

Tasmania, Australia. Old growth deforestation in the Upper Florentine, 70km north-west of Hobart. Deforestation accounts for around 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Solar farm in Gansu province, China. A solar farm under construction in the remote Gansu province. Though five times the size of Australia’s largest operating solar farm, this 50 megawatt (MW) facility will soon be dwarfed by a 1100MW one now under construction in the region.

A massive feedlot in Kansas, United States. About 25 per cent of the Earth’s land area is dedicated to livestock grazing, and a third of all arable land is used to grow feed crops for livestock. Cattle raised for beef are a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Farm in Hubei province, China. A woman poses with her fresh daikon crop. One-fifth of China’s arable land is contaminated with toxic heavy metals, often from nearby industry. Agriculture in China, already affected by local pollution, is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. 

Wind turbines in the Coachella Valley, southern California. Renewables are supplying a rapidly growing share of California’s electricity, achieving a 22 per cent share in 2012 and putting the state on track to meet its 2020 target of 33 per cent.

After the 2013 Tasmanian bushfires. In Dunalley, Tasmania, Scott Griffith sits in the remains of what was once his daughter’s bedroom. On 4 January 2013, Hobart recorded its warmest temperature on record: 41.8 °C. Strong and gusty north to northwesterly winds combined with record heat and low relative humidity to produce widespread areas of ‘severe’ and ‘extreme’ fire danger. Just days after the fires the Insurance Council of Australia estimated the claims received at more than $42 million.