This is the final Report of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is sponsored jointly by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. The report considers the potential impacts of climate change. Several hundred working scientists from many countries have participated in the preparation and review of the scientific data. The result is a unique statement on impacts of climate change with a breadth not previously achieved by the international scientific community. The impact assessments cover: agriculture and forestry, natural terrestrial ecosystems, hydrology and water resources, human settlement and socioeconomic activities, oceans and coastal zones and the cryosphere. The information presented here is the best available at present. It will inform the necessary scientific, political and economic debates and negotiations that can be expected in the immediate future. Appropriate strategies in response to the issue of climate change can be based on the scientific foundation that the Report provides. The Report is, therefore, an essential reference for all who are concerned with climate change and its consequences.