Scotland can expect global warming to impact on biodiversity and human activities in areas such as the Cairngorms…and there may be more severe storms in the West of the country and flooding in other areas. This was the assessment from Professor Peter Gregory, the Director of SCRI, Scotland's leading institute for research on plants and the way they interact with the environment.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland today (Friday February 2nd), he was reacting to the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The study was released at a news conference in Paris at 0830 GMT.

Professor Gregory said the IPCC report was significant because it had a much wider consensus than previous studies. "We are now fairly certain about the science. But there are still some uncertainties about the precise effects, but that is inevitable given the nature of the science," he said.

He continued: "I think that there is a necessity to do all we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, CO2, Nitrous Oxide and Methane and simultaneously prepare for a world that will be slightly different to the one that we currently occupy and to make the changes that will enable us to adapt to that new circumstance."

Professor Gregory said the effect on the farming industry in Scotland could be two-fold: the industry might be able to grow longer-season crops…but some plant diseases normally found further south could move northwards to affect parts of Scotland.

SCRI - the Scottish Crop Research Institute - is based at Invergowrie, Dundee.