In the past two weeks, Britain has been slammed by Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis. Winds up to 90mph and heavy rains have caused massive flooding and left five people dead.
People around the world are starting to notice the effects of climate change as the weather extremes are happening more often. Scientists have warned that coastal areas in the US are at a much greater risk of floods and, across the Atlantic, Britain and the UK are no exception to climate change.
It’s reported that Storm Dennis dropped “a month’s worth of rain in just 48 hours.” The UK government has spent billions in recent years to protect against serious storms such as these, but there is no way to know how big these storms will be.
Rebecca Pow is a Minister at the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), she said responding to the flooding and keeping people safe was the “top priority” and that emergency services and the Environment Agency (EA) were working around the clock to help the hardest-hit flood communities.
George Eustice, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Environment talks about the challenges this type of weather brings:
We’ll never be able to protect every single household just because of the nature of climate change and the fact that these weather events are becoming more extreme, but we’ve done everything that we can do with a significant sum of money, and there’s more to come.
Severe flooding in the UK climate used to take place around “every 15-20 years” according to Dr. Mohammad Heidarzadeh, now these events have been occurring every 2-5 years. He goes on to talk about the structural defense systems:
It is no surprise that several flood defense systems were overtopped or damaged by floodwater. Non-structural solutions, such as managed retreat, sustainable drainage systems, and public involvement, are vital. The country needs further investment in its flood systems, but such investment should be within a holistic and integrated framework.
According to Dr. Marc Stutter, part of that framework needs to be in the form of building up natural defense systems within the landscape. “Infiltration and places to slow, store and filter water need to be planned back into landscapes to add resilience to floodwalls; the alternative is we risk raising the walls every few years.”
Ms. Pow was asked if she thought these UK damaging storms were the result of climate change: “Without a shadow of a doubt we have got climate change. We are told to expect more frequent extreme weather events, and it is something we’re going to have to adapt to.”
Forecasters from the Met Office will not confirm if storms in the future will become more powerful or more frequent in the future. However, the manager of Climate Variability Modeling from the Met Office, Jeff Knight, did say; “The headline is wetter winters and drier summers, but there is still uncertainty over how much wetter and drier.”
I’m not an expert, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that indeed, these storms are becoming more powerful and more frequent. Not just in the UK or in the US, but all over the world, we are experiencing weather extremes from droughts to flooding. These storms will continue increasing their intensity. It’s time to listen to the warnings from climate scientists and brace for stronger, more intense weather.
