The next time you hear someone questioning if climate change is real, point them to this landmark report released on Saturday.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used the report as a platform to deliver its strongest and clearest message yet -- climate change is real and it's happening now. And if immediate action isn't taken, the results could be disastrous.

Released on Saturday, the Panel's "synthesis" report summarizes the findings of the three major climate change reports it released earlier this year. The synthesis is explicitly targeted at the policy-makers attending the UN climate conference in Bali next month, urging them to slash greenhouse gas emissions.
 
The report outlines the very serious climate change impacts we are facing now and will continue to face over the coming decades, including water shortages in Africa, flooding in Asia and heat waves in North America.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon was quoted as saying that the impact of global warming is "so severe and so sweeping that only urgent, global action will do." He also described climate change as "the defining challenge of our age."

Learn more at the IPCC's homepage or read the full report here.