When examined closely, the figures are startling.
The first chart here shows how the report’s best and worse-case scenarios for temperature rises compare, along with the world’s current trajectory.
The second graph shows a reconstruction of how global temperatures have changed over the last 2,000 years. Olivia Rudgard has the full write-up.
Wildfires and floods
The timing of the report could not be more profound.
Firefighters in Greece were battling to prevent raging wildfires from reaching key communities and a thick forest on the island of Evia today, warning that it could further fuel the inferno and make it difficult to contain.
Meanwhile, the monstrous Dixie Fire in northern California has engulfed an area larger than Los Angeles, with three people reported missing and thousands fleeing the advancing flames.
See pictures of the devastating wildfires raging across the world.
On the opposite side of the extreme weather coin, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the military to carry out relief efforts in areas flooded by excessive rainfall.
This gallery shows how floods have also hit China, India, Bangladesh and Turkey, not to mention the huge flooding in Germany last month.