by Kiley Kroh and Michael Conathan

Analysts at one of the world’s largest insurance markets are warning that offshore drilling in the Arctic would “constitute a unique and hard-to-manage risk” and urged companies to “think carefully about the consequences of action” before exploring for oil in the region.

Lloyd’s of London, a large UK-based insurance pool, issued a report today outlining the severe environmental and economic risk of oil and gas drilling in Arctic waters. The stunning report comes as Royal Dutch Shell prepares for exploratory drilling operations in the Arctic – even while leading experts warn that there’s virtually no infrastructure in place to clean up an oil spill in the fragile region.

Joe Romm from Climate Progress blog, reports: Decaying vegetation stuck under the ice or in peat bogs around the world, could start to heat up and tip world into a dangerous global warming - runaway episode.

The Planet Under Pressure conference began with an urgent warning of fast-approaching tipping points like the “compost bomb.” It ended with a plea by the conference leaders for urgent and large-scale action.

Nina Chestney and Alessandra Rizzo from Reuters, write: Scientific estimates differ but the world's temperature looks set to rise by six degrees Celsius by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to rise uncontrollably.

As emissions grow, scientists say the world is close to reaching thresholds beyond which the effects on the global climate will be irreversible, such as the melting of polar ice sheets and loss of rainforests.