The end of the world is nigh? It's just a matter of degrees, says one expert

DRAWING on forecasts of a 4-degree warmer world within a lifetime, Professor Hans Joachin Schellnhuber - one of the world's most cited and outspoken climate scientists - opened a Melbourne University conference yesterday by painting a bleak picture of an unrecognisable Australia, circa 2100.

Agricultural systems have broken down, crops yields decimated. Human health is tested by extremes beyond the endurance of many citizens.