The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning that the world is heating faster than predicted. The group says a major slowing of warming is critical to avoid disaster. If not, the researchers say, the threat to people, ecosystems and sustainable development will rise to irreversible levels. The IPCC released the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C Monday. It says it shows that global warming already has topped one degree Celsius since pre-industrial times. Chinese scientist Panmao Zhai is a leader of the research. He says, “One of the key messages that comes out very strongly from this report is that we are already seeing the consequences of one degree Celsius of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes.”