The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was released over the weekend. Without urgent, aggressive steps to stop greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, it argues, will cause devastating heat waves, floods, starvation and disease. There will be unprecedented species extinctions. In the best-case scenario, reports The New York Times, temperatures will keep rising from carbon already in the atmosphere. Even if factories were shut down today and cars taken off the roads, the average sea level will gradually rise over the next 1,000 years to reach as high as 4.6 feet above that in the preindustrial period.

“These scenes are as frightening as a science fiction movie … but they are even more terrifying because they are real,” said  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

“Climate change poses an urgent challenge that threatens the environment but also international peace and security, prosperity and development.” British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

“My view is that there’s a serious challenge … my view also is that the world is not coming to an end tomorrow.” Australian Prime Minister, John Howard.

Be proud Australia. Or relaxed. Whatever.

Just five days to go, things are coming to a head in the long, long campaign to Election 2007.

Over the next week we’ll be bringing you some other special features in your daily email: your essential Crikey Crib Sheets.

Today: policy comparisons at a glance.
Tomorrow: the best of Citizen Crikey
Wednesday: the hot ads and viral videos plus your Crikey Poll-night Party Planner
Thursday: the Crikey Cabbie panel make their call
Friday: the final Daily Verdict, the Grass Roots Gravy Train grand total, Election Tracker stats, the Crikey Commentariat finalise their predictions.

A big week ahead!

And now more than ever, you need the array of special features to be found on the election pages at www.crikey.com.au.

Crikey’s election tracker: follow B1 and B2 every step of the way with links to coverage and multimedia.
All the ads: all the TV spots and YouTube doodles as they are released by the major parties.
Crikey’s Cabbie panel: some of the best political minds in the country pick over the issues of the day.
Citizen Crikey: a rolling blog bringing you the voices of the marginals

Check out extensive seat profiles of our Seats To Watch, and read up on every other seat in the House. And don’t forget the collected musings of the Crikey Commentariat. There are cartoon galleries from Mark Cornwall and First Dog On The Moon, Richard Farmer’s collected Daily Verdict, detailed Policy Comparisons and Farmer’s authoritative pork register, The Grass Roots Gravy Train.

Crikey’s Election 07 on email and online: all you need to fluff you opinion and inform your vote. We’re here to help.

This has been a shameless piece of self-interested spruiking on behalf of Crikey. Written and authorised by … us.