By David Shukman
The science editor.
David Shukman, the science editor of the British Broadcasting Corporation, reflects on how climate change became our most pressing problem and how he's witnessed the natural world changing.
His voice was loud and he had a flushed face. You're making it all up about global warming, a man shouted as he approached me. A panel discussion about climate change had just finished and we were in the Royal Society. He yelled "it's nothing to do with carbon dioxide" before security guards led him away.
Climate change raises questions about our lifestyles and economies. The picture was not as clear as it is now. Adding certain gases to the air will trap more heat.
The United Nations climate science panel was cautious in the early 1990s, saying it was not certain that human activity was driving up temperatures.
I witnessed a lot of the work that researchers were doing, from watching a professor count sand in the desert to seeing bubbles of air trapped in the blue ice of a crevasse.
The image is from the same source.
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The buffalo that can adapt to changing conditions are being killed in the desert.
The conclusion that it's us heating up the planet was reached recently, thanks to this fieldwork, data from satellites and results from models run on supercomputers.
The implications of a more hostile climate were becoming clearer. A rise in the global temperature used to be considered safe. The melting of the ice on the Greenland ice sheet was discussed as a problem for the future by researchers on my first trip to the ice sheet in 2004. Soon, that would change.
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Over the years, David Attenborough has spoken with the science editor of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
A rise of just over one degree is proving dangerous. It was a shock to return to the same spot 15 years later. The cliffs of ice used to be bare rock. The ice seemed to have lost its strength. I felt uncomfortably hot while the meltwater was pouring into the ocean.
This creates unfairness about climate change. Many communities around the world are not protected by the steel of the Thames Barrier.
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David saw the changes taking place in our planet's icy regions.
When we visited Gabura in Bangladesh in 2009, the village was being flooded every high tide because of a weak embankment. We waded into the water to film a crowd of people trying to hold back the sea.
There was no other choice. Over the past decade or so, you might think international aid made a difference. It hasn't. The wells and the fields are still being polluted by seawater. As the level of the sea keeps climbing, there are no guarantees that the embankments will hold.
12 years ago, Bangladesh was told that by now there would be a steady flow of finance from the richest nations. It's a promise that hasn't been fulfilled. This was one of the main points of contention at the climate conference.
I've been to 10 of the annual events and there is a pattern.
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The two week summit in two minutes.
Global leaders make emotional speeches about saving the planet but leave their negotiators to protect national interests by haggling over each line. India and China demanded that the words "phasing out" be changed to "phasing down" in Glasgow.
The president of the COP26 had to hold back his tears. The pressure of corralling nearly 200 countries is intense. The chair broke down at the conference. Many African delegates walked out in protest at a gathering. The gases raising temperatures have been increasing.
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David reported on a crisis of plastic pollution in Indonesia.
There are some positive signs. When I first watched a windfarm being built, it was a slow process and very expensive, and the idea of planting turbine out at sea seemed crazy. Wind and solar power are more plausible and attractive to investors now that they are cheaper. So are batteries. The giant car makers are going electric.
Most countries and companies have committed to being carbon neutral by the middle of the century. Some people are more sincere about this than others. There's less room to hide because of greater scrutiny and public awareness. It is becoming harder to greenwash. The annual conferences give a sense of direction and provide a sense of momentum.
I'm inspired by a new level of engagement, a surge of clever innovations and a younger generation that is determined to find a way through the damage caused by extreme weather.
Humans can be short-sighted but also clever when faced with trouble. There is always another conference.
There is a country called Greenland.
The 26th Conference of the Parties, known as COP26, is taking place in COP26
Climate change.
