"I used to say to reporters 10 years ago, climate change is serious, certain and soon," United Nations climate change report co-author and senior climate scientist for U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research Linda Mearns said,  "Now I say, it's very serious, it's very certain, and it's now."

Mearns said the recent UN report is sobering, but there are things people can and must do. 

"This time around, there's a greater sense of urgency presented to it and there's much more evidence that humans are responsible," Mearns said. 

Some simple changes, according to Mearns are essentially reducing energy in any way possible. 

-Switch to an electric vehicle

-Switch light bulbs to LED

-Drive less 

-Turn thermostat up in the summer and down in winter

"Greenhouse gas production from automobiles is the very large part of the problem, so that would be the first order of things people should do, then saving energy," she said. 

Mearns said the problem really comes down to the amount of carbon emission given off globally and the United States along with other countries needs to stick to agreements in producing fewer greenhouse gasses.

She said It's not hard to predict the future because it is already happening. Experts said the wildfires and major flooding are proof of it and if nothing is done, it will only get worse and could affect major systems like water irrigation and air conditioning.

"So there are a number of these systems that kind of connect," she said, "It's a really integrated problem. If you can't have enough electricity to run air conditioning then you cant adapt to heat stress and heat stress kills people."

Mearns urges people to reach out to local lawmakers and encourage people of power to recognize the issue.

"It requires action from a number of different scales," she said, "And certainly at the national scale is very important. Government has to be a part of finding the solution."