The conflict in Ukraine dominated the news this week, but an international group of top climate scientists quietly warned on Monday that other global risks - ones likely to grab the headlines in coming years - are surging too.

As use of fossil fuels continues to rise, driving swifter climate change and harsher impacts, much of the world is dramatically unprepared to deal with the consequences, from sea level rise that could displace millions to growing hunger.

Measures to curb these threats - from better disaster warning and social welfare systems to more crop irrigation and coastal protection - are working in many places, and there is still time to adopt them more broadly, the scientists said in a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

But huge under-investment in such adaptation is holding back efforts to keep billions of people safe in the face of more extreme heat, wildfires, storms, floods, droughts and other threats, they warned.

"People and the planet are getting clobbered by climate change," said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Nearly half of humanity is living in the danger zone - now."

That includes coastal cities, particularly in Asia, which are facing sea level rise and wilder storms, and farmers in places like Kenya, struggling with droughts, floods, new crop pests and other woes.

Because adaptation efforts need to fit each context - taking account of local priorities, geography, culture and economies - the same measures won't work everywhere, one challenge to scaling up action.

Often combinations of things - not just more resilient crop seeds but also savings groups to help pay for them and insurance if crops still fail - are needed to genuinely build resilience, Kenyans told our correspondent Nita Bhalla.

Without such changes, Africa in particular - caught between a fast-growing population and declining growth in food production as a result of climate impacts - could face devastating hunger, the continent's scientists warned.

Another problem holding back action on climate change is disinformation about it - including on the social media platforms many people turn to these days for news.

Despite pledges to combat the problem, Facebook is still struggling to flag many posts that promote climate change denial, a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found - though the company said it was still rolling out its efforts.

Misinformation can create confusion that breeds inaction at the very time emissions urgently need cutting, said Kathie Treen of Britain's University of Exeter.

Better education on how to spot dodgy posts could help, she said, alongside greater scrutiny from social media companies themselves.

"We have to educate people at better discerning quality information. That starts in school," Stephan Lewandowsky, of the University of Bristol, told our correspondent Umberto Bacchi.

See you next week!

Laurie

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