Yes. Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

• The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.

• The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004.

• Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.

• Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana's Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later.

• Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature, suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent. Experts expect these sorts of events to increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures rise.

• An upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events, such as wildfires, heat waves, and strong tropical storms, is also attributed in part to climate change by some experts.

The report, based on the work of some 2,500 scientists in more than 130 countries, concluded that humans have caused all or most of the current planetary warming. Human-caused global warming is often called anthropogenic climate change.

• Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth's surface. (See an interactive feature on how global warming works.)

• Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it.

• These gases persist in the atmosphere for years, meaning that even if such emissions were eliminated today, it would not immediately stop global warming.

• Some experts point out that natural cycles in Earth's orbit can alter the planet's exposure to sunlight, which may explain the current trend. Earth has indeed experienced warming and cooling cycles roughly every hundred thousand years due to these orbital shifts, but such changes have occurred over the span of several centuries. Today's changes have taken place over the past hundred years or less.

A follow-up report by the IPCC released in April 2007 warned that global warming could lead to large-scale food and water shortages and have catastrophic effects on wildlife.

• Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimetres) by century's end, the IPCC's February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimetres) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.

• Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world's population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.

• Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.

• Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.

• More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.

• The ocean's circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.

• At some point in the future, warming could become uncontrollable by creating a so-called positive feedback effect. Rising temperatures could release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice, and causing increased evaporation of water.

You can show your support by adding your company logo or personal photograph to whosupportseco.com, alternatively you can simply follow the guidelines below to help prevent global warming.

• Get energy-saving bulbs. Old-style light bulbs are based on 100-year-old technology, and use five times as much as energy as new-type bulbs.
"You can now buy energy-savers in all shapes and sizes, including IKEA-style spotlights," Sky and NewConsumer advised.

• Insulate your home. Roughly half the average home's heat is lost through its walls and loft. Cavity walls can be insulated for a few hundred pounds, and lofts can be lagged with an eco-friendly insulation such as recycled newspaper or wool, with grants available for both. See Warmcel, Thermafleece and the Energy Saving Trust for more information.

• Make your own energy. If you have already insulated and installed energy-saving light bulbs, then it is time to consider creating energy for your home.
"Despite our fickle weather, solar panels are surprisingly good at making electricity in this country - £7,000 worth of panels could generate half a typical UK home's annual needs - while a solar thermal install will provide 50 per cent of your hot water needs for much of the year," explained Sky and NewConsumer.
"Mini home wind turbines aren't great in cities, but ask installers to visit your house if you live somewhere with wind and space." For more information on all three see Low Carbon Buildings.

• Fit foil panels behind radiators. It may sound more Blue Peter than eco-chic, but reflective foil panels help use the heat most radiators lose from their backs. This is cheap, and the panels can be found at DIY stores, including B&Q.

• Boil less and get an eco kettle. Boiling more water than needed in your kettle wastes time as well as energy. For more info on eco kettles see Nigel's Ecostore.

• Switch your tariff. Switching electricity supplier to a green tariff is easy and effective. Two of the best are Ecotricity, which builds wind turbines with its customers' money, and Good Energy, which uses 100 per cent renewable energy and buys electricity from homeowners producing it at home.
Switching takes about five minutes on a site such as MyFinances and Green Electricity.

• Do not leave appliances on standby. The average Brit wastes between six and ten per cent of their electricity bill a year to keep gadgets unnecessarily blinking on standby.
You could save £38 by turning electronics off at the wall when they are not in use.
Alternatively, you could get a gadget that will do it for you such as Powersafer, ByeBye Standby or Intellipanel.

• Waste less water. In Britain we each waste 150 litres of water daily, and the lavatory's one of the key water wasters. Either get a dual-flush loo or fit an Interflush, Hippo or simply put a full plastic water bottle in your cistern so it uses less water per flush.

• Get a smart meter. Find out the appliances costing you the most money with a smart meter.
"Most people have no idea how much they're spending on electricity at home, even after another confusing bill's landed on their kitchen table," said Sky and NewConsumer.
A smart meter such as the Electrisave and Wattson will give real-time energy usage in pence and pounds.
"The Wattson even turns blue when you're using little energy, getting redder the more your consumption goes up."

• Buy energy efficient appliances. As the fridge-freezer is constantly on, this is a key appliance to buy wisely when the time comes to replace it.