Some readers have challenged my assertion that there's international scientific consensus that global warming is happening and humans are making the major contribution. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change remains the authoritative body on climate change, collating its results in a process involving thousands of scientists from around the world. Their 2007 Fourth Assessment Report stated that 'warming of the climate system is unequivocal', and that 'this era of global warming is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin' and 'the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on the global climate'. Compelling, peer-reviewed evidence released since the 2008 report has, if anything, demonstrated that major climate change impacts such as sea ice and ice sheet melt, are progressing more quickly than the IPCC predicted. Today's announcement by the Met Office, based on 160 years of metereological reporting from 1500 stations around the world, reports that the past decade is the warmest since records began. This evidence, in particular, sets the record straight on sceptics' questions about the very existence of global warming. There may not be complete, 100% consensus among every person calling themselves a 'climate scientist' that climate change is happening and human society is exacerbating the natural greenhouse effect, but the overwhelming balance of scientific opinion says it is so, and that is good enough for the RSPB.