CLIMATE CHANGE TO BE ‘CATASTROPHE’ IN UK – PROF

Climate change means catastrophe in UK, not café culture says professor; Global warming in Britain will not mean a nice "café culture, sitting outside sipping lattes" but heatwaves that kill vulnerable elderly people and catastrophic flooding, a climate change expert has warned

Louise Gray, 5 February 2013 (UK Telegraph)

“Professor Kevin Anderson, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, said Government and local authorities are failing to grasp the risks to Britain of global warming…He accused people of focusing on the chance of warmer evenings, rather than realising heatwaves will cause deaths…

“Heatwaves, like the one that killed 2,000 people in 2003, could become more frequent. Prof Anderson pointed out that UK buildings and hospitals are not equipped for these temperatures…He called on politicians to 'bite the bullet' by upgrading houses so ventilation is better and making sure hospitals are prepared for illness caused by heat.”

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“Prof Anderson also said flooding could become more frequent because of rising sea levels and more intense rainfall…Last year was the wettest on record and the Met Office has warned that the frequency of extreme rainfall in the UK may already be increasing…[C]ouncils have to improve drainage in cities and ensure homes are prepared and not built on flood plains.

“However, first Prof Anderson said the UK must try to prevent climate change from happening so fast and temperatures reaching dangerous levels by reducing carbon emissions…[by] investment in public transport and renewable energy…Met Office climate change predictions for the Government forecast temperatures in the UK to increase from the 1961 to 1990 average of 10 to 17C in the summer to 15 to 22C by 2080.”

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