• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: No Public Finance for East Coast LNG Projects, Wilkinson Says July 4, 2022
‘Climate Math Gets Harder’ as Radicalized Supreme Court Upends U.S. Carbon Regulation July 4, 2022
Dire Living Conditions, Climate-Driven Heat Wave Produce Deadliest Human Smuggling Event in U.S. History July 4, 2022
Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta June 29, 2022
London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty June 29, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Climate News Network

UK could warm by 4°C this century

July 14, 2016
Reading time: 3 minutes
Primary Author: Alex Kirby

The risk of flooding is identified as one of the climate-related priorities for the UK.

The risk of flooding is identified as one of the climate-related priorities for the UK.

 

Scientific advisers warn that, by 2100, temperatures in Britain could rise by twice as much as the internationally-agreed limit set at the Paris climate conference.

LONDON, 14 July, 2016 – An independent group of advisers to the UK government says the impacts of climate change are already affecting the country, and calls for urgent action to tackle the risks.

Globally, the group says, 14 of the 15 hottest years recorded have occurred since 2000: climate change is happening now, with greenhouse gas emissions from human activity the dominant cause.

It says the UK could, by the end of this century, experience dangerously high temperatures far above their pre-industrial levels. “Global emissions of greenhouse gases will need to peak soon and then decline rapidly for the Paris Agreement goals to be feasible.

“Even in this scenario, the uncertain sensitivity of the climate to greenhouse gases means there would remain at least a small chance of 4°C or more of warming by 2100.”

By 2081-2100, warming in the UK is likely to be between 1.4°C and 3.2°C, under a scenario assuming the highest level of greenhouse gas mitigation. The highest emissions scenario, though, suggests a range from 3.4°-6.2°C.

Reducing emissions

The warning comes from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), set up to advise Parliament on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change.

The report by the CCC describes what it sees as the most urgent risks and opportunities for the UK from climate change.

Significantly, given the unexpected turn of political events in the UK since the referendum vote on 23 June to leave the European Union, the report says the impact of the move does not change the overall conclusions of its risk assessment.

However, it says pointedly that some individual risks may change if EU-derived policies and legislation are withdrawn “and not replaced by equivalent or better UK measures”.

The CCC says it will assess the implications of the EU referendum decision in its next statutory report to Parliament − due to be published in June 2017 − on the UK’s national adaptation programme.

This year’s report provides details of what the authors say are the most urgent risks resulting from changes to the UK’s climate. These are likely to include periods of too much or too little water, increasing average and extreme temperatures, and sea level rise.

“The impacts of climate change are becoming ever clearer, both in the UK and around the world”

They single out several “immediate priority areas”. These are related to risks of flooding and coastal change; the impact of high temperatures on health and wellbeing; risks to natural capital; and the risks of future water shortages affecting the public water supply and water for agriculture, energy generation and industry. There would also be effects on freshwater ecology.

Two further priorities are impacts on the global food system, and risks arising from new and emerging pests, alien species and diseases that would affect people, plants and animals.

The report acknowledges that climate change could offer the UK opportunities, including perhaps increased agricultural and forestry production, if enough water is available and soil fertility is managed.

It identifies serious problems with UK soils, including declining quality from the loss of organic matter, increasing seasonal dryness and wetness, and soil compaction and erosion.

Businesses in the UK could also benefit from an increase in global demand for adaptation-related goods and services, such as engineering and insurance.

The authors take care to stress that climate change is a global threat whose effects are being felt far beyond the UK, and far more acutely in many countries.

Imported impacts

They say: “Impacts will be imported to the UK through the price and safety of food and other commodities, changes in the patterns of trade, disruption to global supply chains, and risks to overseas investments.

“Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of weather extremes, disproportionately affecting low income populations. The UK is likely to be called upon to provide more resources for humanitarian assistance, and efforts to build state stability and long-term resilience could be undermined.”

It cites one example of the way in which extreme weather in distant parts of the world can not only disrupt supply chains but damage the UK directly. In 2012, a drought in the US contributed to increases in the price of soya, which, in turn, led to some UK pig farmers being forced out of business.

Lord Krebs, a member of the CCC, says: “The impacts of climate change are becoming ever clearer, both in the United Kingdom and around the world. We must take action now to prepare for the further, inevitable changes we can expect.” – Climate News Network



in Climate News Network

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

stux / Pixabay
Air & Marine

Big Seven European Airlines Lag on Reducing Sky-High Emissions: Report

June 13, 2022
76
Ars Electronica/flickr
Solar

Unique ‘Smartflower’ Microgrid to Power Saskatchewan High School

June 13, 2022
155
http://midwestenergynews.com/2013/10/24/as-pipeline-concerns-mount-a-renewed-focus-on-the-great-lakes-enbridge-mackinac-line-5/
Pipelines / Rail Transport

Line 5 Closure Brings Negligible Rise in Gas Prices, Enbridge Consultant Finds

June 10, 2022
207

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

angela n./flickr

‘Climate Math Gets Harder’ as Radicalized Supreme Court Upends U.S. Carbon Regulation

July 4, 2022
122
Wikimedia Commons

BREAKING: No Public Finance for East Coast LNG Projects, Wilkinson Says

July 4, 2022
123
U.S. Navy/picryl

Montreal to Host New NATO Climate Centre as Military Analyst Confronts Global ‘Hyperthreat’

July 4, 2022
81
opinion polling gender green recovery climate action

Conservative Women Far More Likely Than Men to Support Green Transition, EcoAnalytics Research Finds

July 4, 2022
80
Maurits90/Wikimedia Commons

San Francisco Commuter Train Derailed by Scorching Track Temperatures, Extreme Heat

July 4, 2022
49
EdmondMeinfelder/flickr

Dire Living Conditions, Climate-Driven Heat Wave Produce Deadliest Human Smuggling Event in U.S. History

July 4, 2022
35

Recent Posts

Adrian Grycuk/Wikimedia Commons

Youth Climate Case Moves to Top Tribunal in European Court

July 4, 2022
34
Seci/wikimedia commons

Saudi Aramco Talks Net-Zero, Plans to Boost Production Through 2035

July 4, 2022
21
Keith Weller/Wikimedia Commons

U.S. Methane Plan Gives Big Ag a Free Pass

July 4, 2022
28
Fadi Hage/wikimedia commons

Indoor Farming Revolution Comes with Significant Carbon Cost

July 4, 2022
37
Mont SUTTON snow terrain

Southern Quebec Towns Scramble for Solutions as Water Sources Dwindle

July 4, 2022
37
Pxhere

Marine Stewardship Figures Prominently in Latest Project Drawdown List

July 4, 2022
24
Next Post
The common bean comes in many shapes

Drought-beater beans mean more food

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}