Global warming is accelerating three times more quickly than feared, a series of startling, authoritative studies has revealed. They have found that emissions of carbon dioxide have been rising at thrice the rate in the 1990s.

The Arctic ice cap is melting three times as fast – and the seas are rising twice as rapidly – as had been predicted. The issue will be top of the agenda of the G8 summit which opens in Germany Wednesday, placing unprecedented pressure on President George Bush finally to agree to international measures.