Further confirmation of Climate change came last week with the met office statistics showing the hottest days on record all being within the last 20 years.
Climate specialists predict that our hotter days will increase, while our cold spells will become more infrequent.
The UK weather has wreaked havoc throughout Summer 2019, with vast disparities in the climate North & South. With some days Southern England being swathed in 35+ degrees & Northern England struggling under the devastating weight of flash flooding; the diversity of our weather systems seems to be becoming increasingly extreme.
Since 2002, the UK has seen the 10 hottest years since records began, with evidence also showing that none of Britain’s coldest years have happened since 1963.
“The world has warmed 1C since pre-industrial times, meaning that hot years are the new normal,” said Dr Michael Byrne from the University of St Andrews. “Not only is the UK getting warmer, but also wetter, with 13% more summer rain compared to last century. With global emissions of greenhouse gases on the rise, the UK will continue to get warmer and wetter as global warming accelerates.
“The science of climate change is now clear. The UK government must ramp up preparations and ensure that our infrastructure and citizens are prepared for what is to come.” (1)
Erratic & unpredictable weather fronts have increased the risk of damage or injury due to flooding & high winds in many regions.
Last week it was reported that Stockport & Poynton areas were experiencing flooding, an area not previously considered at risk of. The pressure is on the government to act to both reduce the contributors to climate change (in accordance with Paris Agreement) & to protect certain areas from erosion & flooding.
What infrastructure plans do the Government have to avoid our transportation networks from being disrupted in the face of advancing climate change & in doing so hampering our economy as hundreds of thousands of UK workers & business owners struggle to get to work & or have the added stress of falling victim to flooding themselves?
According to the Committee on Climate Change, the UK Government has achieved a great deal since the inception of the Climate change Act 2008.
Some examples of the expectations from the Climate Change Act 2008, which have a direct correlation to the extremes we have seen in the past fortnight are:
- As part of the Climate Change Act, the independent Committee on Climate Change was created. The Committee has helped to ensure that UK’s overall direction of travel on climate change has remained focused on the long-term target, separate from political fluctuations. As such, the Committee’s advice has been instrumental in the UK’s success so far.
- The Act is also helping the UK to increase it resilience to climate change that is happening now, and future effects.
- The government is spending more on flood defences, is considering enhanced natural flood management, and is looking at Sustainable Urban Drainage systems – all recommended by the Committee on Climate Change. (2)
It is uncertain in relation to the last point illustrated above, if the citizens affected by the dramatic flooding of the past few weeks, would necessarily agree with the fact that enough has been done to improve the flood defences.
However, in light of the increased need for the UK housing market to expand, with some 650,000 houses being planned to be built in & around the UK & with land acquisition at a premium; it is no secret that a lot of new builds & land which has been acquired for this purpose, has been on known flood plains & or poor drainage areas. According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
One in 10 (11%) of all new homes built in England in 2016-17 were constructed in type 3 flood zones – an area the Environment Agency defines as either an area with a “1 in 100 or greater annual probability of river flooding” or a floodplain.
The Local Government Chronicle has revealed that in Boston, Lincolnshire, 97% of new homes were built in type 3 flood zones … and 91% of all land there is in such an area.
According to the Environment Agency, the east Lincolnshire area has experienced at least seven major flooding incidents in the past 20 years including one in 2014 which flooded around 600 homes in Boston. (3)
As more land is covered in impermeable surfaces, so decreases the natural soak away areas meaning that surface water does not drain away so readily.
Gemma Holmes recent blog for the Climate Change Committee cited that:
“On average, damage due to surface water flooding exceeds £300 million every year. With a growing population and climate change expected to increase the intensity of heavy bursts of rainfall, the cost of associated damage could increase by about 40% by the 2050s if current management approaches continue as they are.”
Furthermore, Gemma Holme’s research found after a visit to the Abbey Mills pumping station in London, built 150 years ago that:
“The sewer system is now 150 years old and was designed to service a population of four million people. The original intention was for overflow sewage to flow into the River Thames once or twice a year, to avoid flooding streets and homes. With the population of London now at eight million, and urban areas becoming increasingly covered by impermeable surfaces such as tarmac and paving (there was a 26% increase in hard surfacing of London’s gardens between 1999 and 2007), the sewers now overflow into the Thames once a week, on average. On top of that, more rainwater is ending up in the sewers more quickly, increasing the risk of surface water flooding.” (4)
This stark evidence proves without a shadow of a doubt that continued building on flood plains & a lack of infrastructure changes, will continue to see an increase in flooding across the UK, as our climate takes us into a time of hotter & wetter conditions as the norm.
The committee on climate change (2) concludes that:
More action is needed to ensure the nation is adequately prepared for changing average conditions and more extreme weather; in the natural environment, built environment, infrastructure and through changing people’s behaviour. (2)
It would seem on the surface & according the dramatic imagery lighting up the news & social media streams of entire villages being submerged under flash flooding & the continued Severe Weather Warnings being issued by the Environment Agency; that the infrastructure promised over 10 years ago at the inception of the Climate Change Act hasn’t moved fast enough to keep pace with the advances of climate change.
Written by Katy-Jane Mason on behalf of Dolphin N2
- https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/31/uks-10-hottest-years-on-record-have-occurred-since-2002-met-office
- https://www.theccc.org.uk/our-impact/ten-years-of-the-climate-change-act/
- http://www.thefloodexpo.co.uk/news/blog.asp?blog_id=12460
- https://www.theccc.org.uk/2018/07/30/first-the-heat-then-the-rain-the-problem-of-surface-water-flooding-in-england/
