WHAT CAN WE DO TO END CLIMATE CHANGE?

With global warming reaching a scorching crisis, is it too late to change our behaviour and save the planet?

- FIONA FORD

To some of us it sounds like paradise – bright sunshine, soaring temperatures and an ice-cold cocktail on the beach to cool down. But reports last month that almost every city in Italy was on a red heat alert and that wildfires had forced up to 30,000 people in Rhodes to flee their homes or hotels have left many of us realising that it’s actually a nightmare.

Scientists argue that human-induced climate change is largely responsible for the Mediterranean wildfires this summer. But experts have been expressing concern over rising sea levels and temperatures since 1979. It’s thought that climate change, alongside issues such as pollution and habitat loss, has contributed to a 69% fall in wildlife populations.

The situation makes for grim reading, but so many of us are trying to do our bit and live more sustainably - even though going green can be expensive (in a recent poll four in 10 Brits admitted they can’t afford to live sustainably). So realistically, what more can we do to save our planet? Woman’s Own investigates…

‘One look at the heatwaves in the Med tells us we have to act’

Claire Munday, 46, runs a dance company for toddlers. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband Stephen, 47, and children Ethan, 10, and Isla, eight.