Extreme Weather

During the summer of 2003 sea-surface temperatures in the Mediterranean rose to levels previously unrecorded, the net result of a sustained period of extreme heat was to lead to the deaths of many thousands of people. It was not only the traditional hotspots of Europe that suffered, areas of the South East of England for the first time in 300 years since records of temperature have been kept, reached the 100F mark. In a country such as England which has no experience of extreme warm weather the result was, much of the infrastructure failed to cope, train tracks buckled, tube trains stopped running, schools and offices with no air conditioning were forced to close. The rest of Europe faired no better and in total more than 20,000 deaths across Europe were attributed to the summer heat wave of 2003.


Bush Fire

Can we then expect to suffer from similar and indeed more severe heat waves, unfortunately the most respected scientific research points to an intensifying of temperatures over a more sustained period of time over much of Europe.

We can also expect to see more intense and life threatening floods, scientists point to the fact that the USA has seen an increase in its annual rain fall over the last 100 years of 5%. Floods however are caused by very intense rain over a short period of time as experienced in parts of the UK this summer (2007) which caused billions of pounds of damage to cities such as Hull and
Summer FloodsStratford Upon Avon. Although It can not be proven that the UK floods of 2007 are a result of Climate Change, the period of time by which extremes of rainfall are measured (returned times) is decreasing in a manner which can be proven scientifically.

Far more occurrences of severe rainfall are expected in years to come and if we are to prevent the recurrence of the social and economic implications seen in the UK this summer (2007) then a great deal of investment has to be made into flood prevention.

What are we to do then if we are to slow down climate change and hopefully at some point reverse the damage already done? There are so many conflicts of interests, you have the major corporations that have a duty to the shareholder to maximise profit, you have Airlines competing with each other to offer cheaper and cheaper fares, you have the busy parent who uses the car to take their child to school because life is too hectic to find the spare time to walk. Of course these are just examples and each one has a valid argument in their favour, but without change now, severe changes in the worlds climate are inevitable.