We have the climate predictions but do we have the political will to adapt ?
We have the climate predictions but do we have the political will to adapt?
Rising sea levels, changing rainfall patterns and increases in temperature all demand urgent measures
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 June 2009 19.04 BST
- Article history
The climate predictions for the UK, published today by Defra, underline the extraordinary nature of the challenge to our communities.
Rising sea levels, changing rainfall patterns and increases in temperature, varying from locality to locality, all demand the implementation of adaptation measures to manage the increasing risk to our coastlines, cities, towns and villages, and the infrastructure serving them.
One in six UK homes ‘ at risk of flooding ‘
£20bn needs to be invested in flood defences to protect properties from rising sea levels and severe rainstorms, Environment Agency warn
As many as 5.2m properties are already at risk of flooding, with 2.4m threatened by rivers and the sea, and a further 2.8 million at risk from surface water flooding from overflowing drains.
A sea of tears: the flooded people of South Bangladesh
A sea of tears: the flooded people of South Bangladesh
With ocean levels rising, and shrimp farms proliferating, villages in south Bangladesh are being flooded by the sea. There is no water to drink, so people must search for it daily, writes Tahmima Anam.
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- The Guardian, Saturday 20 June 2009
- Article history
If you look at a map of Bangladesh, you will see that the southern coast has a meandering, indistinct border. This is the home of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, with its strange, submerged trees, its Royal Bengal tigers, and its mythical figures such as Bon-Bibi, goddess and protector of the forest. It is where the delta ends and the sea begins.
Water has been the making and unmaking of Bangladesh. It is the reason the rice grows thick and fast, why the rivers ripple with fish, why the land is carpeted with green. But the water is also cruel. Every year, torrential rains flood villages and farms; rivers break their banks, swallowing great chunks of land, destroying the homes, and the dreams, that are built upon it.
New York carbon clock tracks rising greenhouse emissions
New York carbon clock tracks rising greenhouse emissions
The 21m-high carbon calculator reads 3.6tr tonnes and counting
Pedestrians walk by the world’s first real-time carbon counter which displays greenhouse gases amount in the atmosphere, after it was unveiled by Deutsche Bank outside Penn station in New York. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images
Here’s a nice idea: a rolling carbon counter that allows you to see how fast greenhouse gases are accumulating in the atmosphere.
It makes sense for two reasons: first that you don’t get greenhouse pea soupers: in other words, you can’t see or smell the main climate-changing gases. We need a visual representation to bridge the imaginative void.
Research centre maps flood risk
From The ABC A climate research group is warning coastal Queensland communities need to start preparing for the effects of climate change. Dr John Hunter from the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre says it has designed a new web-based program that can predict the risk of flooding in Cairns and other regions based Continue Reading →
Hot wet Britain faces bush fires
BRITAIN is facing a future of wildfires, storm surges and crop failures during blisteringly hot summers, according to the most authoritative assessment yet of the threat of climate change.
At the publication of the UK Climate Projections 2009 report, Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, also warned that by 2070 the Thames Barrier may need to be replaced to cope with increased risk of flooding in the Thames Estuary and sea levels up to 68cm higher than now.
The bleak new government forecasts – the result of 12 years of research by Met Office scientists – indicate that, in one scenario, summer temperatures in London could regularly exceed 40C by 2080.