UNITED NATIONS: A new United Nations report on climate change says “the effects of climate change are already occurring on all continents and across the oceans,” and the world is mostly “ill-prepared” for the risks that the sweeping changes present.

The comprehensive report by a panel of international experts released on Monday in Yokohama (Japan) blames “Human interference” with the climate system.

“Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,” says Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in the report.

Some impacts of climate change include a higher risk of flooding and changes to crop yields and water availability, report says.

Humans may be able to adapt to some of these changes, but only within limits, the report said.

The United Nations panel includes hundreds of scientists from around the world.

In the summary of its findings and recommendations, for instance, the panel suggests that ongoing efforts to improve energy efficiency, switch to cleaner energy sources, make cities “greener” and reduce water consumption will make life better today and could help reduce mankind’s effect on climate change in the future. While all people will continue to feel the effects of climate change, the report concludes that the

world’s poorest populations will suffer the most from rising temperatures and rising seas unless action is taken.

If left unchecked, the report finds that climate-change risks include: Coastal flooding which will devastate areas near the shore. Widespread hunger due to warming, drought and severe downpours.

Damage to big cities because of inland flooding.

Extreme weather and storms, damaging some of the things we take for granted, like electricity, running water and Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability is the second in a series of four reports prepared by hundreds of the world’s top climate scientists through the IPCC.

The report states that climate change has already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystems, water supplies and some people’s livelihoods.

The striking feature of the effects, said the report, is that they are occurring from the tropics to the poles, from small islands to large continents, and from the wealthiest countries to the poorest.

“The report concludes that people, societies and ecosystems are vulnerable around the world, but with different vulnerability in different places, said Stanford’s Chris Field, one of the report co-chairs. “Climate change often interacts with other stresses to increase risk.”

There is no new science in this report, which assesses recent science since the previous IPCC report in 2007.