United Kingdom
Climate change impacts
It takes only 171 days for the average Canadian to produce as much greenhouse gases as the average Briton will produce over the course of the entire year. Therefore, June 20th (171 days into the year) is "Climate Change Impacts in the United Kingdom Day."
According to the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if climate change continues unabated, "we could be heading for a global rise of over 5.5°C by 2100 compared with the pre-industrial period – that is, a larger change in temperature than between the last ice age and now." The UK may face an “average summer temperature rise of 5°C in the south west of England by the 2080s” as well as “warmer and wetter winters, hotter and drier summers, sea level rise, and more severe weather.”
In fact, impacts in the UK are already being seen today. For example, “the temperature in Central England has already risen by about 1°C since the 1970s.” The August 2003 heat wave resulted in at least 2,000 premature deaths in the UK. “The flooding in the summer of 2007 showed the devastating impact that can result from sudden heavy downpours; this caused the flooding of 55,000 properties and left 350,000 people without mains water.” Among the most vulnerable in the UK are seaside towns such as Selsey that are already facing severe sea level rise, storm surge and flooding. It is unclear now whether the town will survive or if its inhabitants will be forced inland.
For more information on climate change in the UK, read the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' report, 'Adapting to Climate Change: UK Climate Projections'.
To read more about the impacts of climate change on Selsey, read the Friends of the Earth International report, 'Voices of Communities Affected by Climate Change'.
Story
"Cassian Garbett was born in London in 1960. He trained as a wood carver and then went on to art school. He travelled in the Far East and taught English in Japan before settling in the Cuckmere Valley on the South coast of England. He has lived here for 15 years and is the last permanent resident in one of five coastguard cottages which perch on the chalk cliff edge and are part of the Seaford Head Nature Reserve."
"I am the last permanent resident in one of five coastguard cottages near the town of Seaford. They are all perched on the chalk cliff edge, a conservation area. Built in 1818, the cottages are very historic and feature in tourist brochures around the world.
The army built significant sea defences here when they occupied these cottages during the war. It should be possible to maintain them for the next twenty years, but obviously the challenge is ever greater because of rising sea levels and greater frequency of storms because of climate change."
To continue reading Cassian's story, visit WWF's Climate Witness page.
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