THE United Nations has issued a "code red for humanity" in a major new climate change report, according to its secretary general Antonio Gutteres.

The wide-ranging study covers global threats and is released with under three months to go until the Cop26 climate summit is staged in Glasgow.

Here are five ways in which scientists predict rising global temperatures will change Scotland:

FLOODING

SEA levels rose by 8cm between 1900 and 1990 and are likely to increase by the same level by 2030, the Scottish Government says.

It has declared a climate emergency and, according to independent science group Climate Central, many parts of Scotland will fall under the annual flood level by 2030.

These include Grangemouth and the nearby Helix park, home to Andy Scott's kelpie sculptures, large parts of Inverness and much of Dumbarton.

SEABIRDS

SCOTLAND'S islands are home to internationally-important colonies of seabirds, but recent work suggests climate change is having a more severe impact on species here than in southern parts of the globe.

That's based on studies of almost 70 bird varieties which found a drop in the number of chicks being raised by fish-eating birds in Scotland and northern Europe.

It's thought the knock-on impact of warming oceans is to blame.

ANCIENT MONUMENTS

SEVERAL of these are understood to be at risk from coastal erosion. Studies looking at coastal changes between the 1890s, 1970s and contemporary times have found erosion is increasing in some places. Ancient Skara Brae on Orkney is one site said to be at risk, as is historic St Andrews. 

Beaches and dunes protect £13 billion of Scottish assets, official reports claim, and it's thought that places and spaces worth £400 million will be at risk by 2050 if coastal erosion and flooding continue to progressively impact the country.

HABITATS

NATURESCOT says vulnerable and rare coastal machair landscapes will likely be lost, while the Highland arctic-alpine habitats where montane fauna thrive could become scrub habitats instead as the climate warms, changing the plants and even animals we see there.

However, that's uncertain and there's said to be "a chance that the windier and wetter summers projected could favour the arctic-alpine habitats".

It's thought that forest will also undergo change, with reduced frosts hitting the abdundance of heathers and similar vegetation.

WILDFIRES

AS current events in Greece show, these are no joke. Hotter temperatures and prolonged spells of dry weather create tinderbox conditions in some areas.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has repeatedly warned of elevated fire risks from the Highlands to the Borders in the past couple of years. These can burn for days and pose a risk to livestock, wildlife, businesses and residences.

More than 40 incidents have taken place in Moray alone this summer.