As reported in the Guardian yesterday, UK climate advisers have given a very stark warning. They call on the government to plan for a worst-case scenario of 2 degrees Celsius rise in global temperatures by 2050. As the Climate Change Committee (CCC) recently highlighted, we’re simply not doing enough to adapt to more extreme weather. Julia King, chair of the CCC’s adaptation committee, underscored the urgency of addressing this growing threat. The UK has begun to look surprisingly vulnerable to the most harmful consequences of climate change.
The CCC’s most recent report pointed to major disappointments in every sector, even agriculture and transport. King stated that “people in the UK are already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, and we owe it to them to prepare.” The warning is grounded in the commitments made in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aimed to limit global warming to “well below” 2C, while aspiring for a more ambitious target of 1.5C, now deemed increasingly unattainable by scientists.
Current Climate Challenges
Over the past summer, the UK experienced an unprecedented series of extreme weather events, including four separate heat waves. Many areas received an unusual amount of subpar rainfall and extended episodes of drought. In the face of all these climate extremes, the need to adapt and protect public health and infrastructure from dangerous weather is more urgent than ever.
As King noted, British homes are made with cooler temperatures in mind, focusing on retaining heat in the winter months. As a result, air conditioning is still rare in homes, public buildings, and transit. The country will likely be at increased risk in upcoming extreme heat events.
The CCC suggests that if global warming intensifies, the effects will be dire. Once we cross the 2C line, the risk of experiencing a heat wave in any given year could increase from 40% to a staggering 80%. Additionally, climate change induced rising sea levels may offer further harbingers of doom, with an estimated 15 to 25 centimeter rise in seas.
The Urgency for Adaptation
Experts contend that the government’s response to climate change must evolve to match the urgency with which emissions are being addressed. Julia King articulated this issue most succinctly. That is what we should expect. She continued, “We need to see government treating adaptation with the same urgency that we have been able to treat cutting emissions.”
Douglas Parr of Greenpeace supported this call for action, stating that “alarm bells should be ringing in government.” He warned that the risk of more frequent heat waves, droughts and wildfires would make the UK unrecognizable. Changes like this are possible in just a matter of days! The need for significant investment and proactive measures to address this crisis has never been more urgent.
Despite these potential benefits, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit strongly urges the government to focus on adaptation first. They highlight that this is an immediate requirement. The CCC’s findings underscore that adaptation strategies must be implemented immediately to mitigate the impacts of climate change that are already being felt throughout the nation.
Preparing for a Changing Future
The UK is already living with the effects of climate change. To meet this crisis head on, it needs to immediately recalibrate its infrastructure and public policy agenda. The CCC’s report calls the decision time an emergency, and we agree. If we fail to act quickly, large swaths of Earth will become uninhabitable due to extreme heat.
Measured against the rising tide of climate impacts, the federal government’s response rings hollow. In light of these shortfalls, the CCC has previously called on ministers to act with resolve. They frame climate change adaptation as necessary to ensure healthy ecosystems and safeguard the public interest.