UK has driest first six months of any year since 1929

Building designers invited to engage in climate change innovation challenge

World warmest since records began warns NASA scientists

Climate UK web portal now live!

Climate change and volcanic activity

UK Government publishes Departmental Adaptation Plans

£2.6 million flood protection grants for homes announced

Met Office: 'Noughties' confirmed as the warmest decade on record

Flood warning service rolled out

UK Marine projection pages and briefing notes added to the MCCIP website

Reservoir safety to be improved

Copenhagen

The impact of a global temperature rise of 4°C

Funding announced for local community flood protection

UK has driest first six months of any year since 1929
As June ended with below average rainfall, official figures show that January to June had average rainfall of 356.8 mm, making this period the second driest for 100 years. 1929 had the driest first six months of a year, when 275.7 mm of rain was recorded. The drier conditions have been caused by a lack of Atlantic weather systems, which usually cross the UK bringing bands of rain, especially to western regions. The drier conditions have already led to pressure on water resources in some areas.
    A recent (May 2010) Met Office study on how climate change could affect the frequency of extreme droughts in the UK found a range of possibilities — the majority of them showing such droughts will become more common. The study looked at how frequently extreme droughts could happen in the UK by 2100. To put the droughts in context, conditions seen in 1976 were used as a benchmark — a year which saw one of the worst droughts on record.
    The Met Office climate model was used to run a number of simulations and these were then studied to determine how frequently 1976-style droughts could occur. There were 11 slightly different versions of the model, producing a range of results. At the lower end, extreme droughts would continue to be as rare as they are today — happening every 50 to 100 years. In the majority of other outcomes from the model, however, 1976-style droughts were more frequent. At the higher end, extreme droughts could happen once every decade — making them about 10 times more frequent than today.
    Eleanor Burke, Climate Extremes Scientist with the Met Office, said understanding how droughts will affect the UK in the future is vital for plans to adapt to climate change. She said: "Severe droughts such as the one seen in 1976 have a big impact — causing water shortages; health risks; fire hazards; crop failure, and subsidence. Understanding how the frequency of these events will change is therefore very important to planning for the future."
    At this stage there is no probability attached to each of the scenarios, so they are all assumed to be equally likely. It is hoped future research will be able to assess how likely each outcome is to give better guidance to decision-makers on how they need to plan and adapt for future impacts of climate change.
July 2010

Building designers invited to engage in climate change innovation challenge
Building designers are being invited to bid for a total of £2.5 million to devise ways to adapt buildings to be resilient to a changing climate. The funding comes from the Technology Strategy Board, which will invest a further £2.4m in 2011. The programme aims to build the capacity of the building community to respond to demands for climate adaptation services. The competition opens on 14 June, with a deadline of 22 July. For more information, visit http://www.innovateuk.org/content/news/building-designers-invited-to-engage-in-climate-ch.ashx
June 2010

World warmest since records began warns NASA scientists
The global temperature has reached its warmest on record based on a 12-month rolling average according to James Hansen, the leading climate change scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
    In a paper yet to be peer-reviewed but made public on 2 June, James Hansen and colleagues at NASA suggest that the Earth has been 0.65 °C warmer over the past 12 months than during the 1951-80 mean, and that the global temperature for 2010 will exceed the 2005 record. More details can be found on the Guardian news website.
June 2010

Climate UK web portal now live!
Climate UK is the national network of climate change partnerships (including Climate SouthWest!) from the English regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Climate UK’s aim is to share knowledge and learning about tackling the consequences of climate change in the UK and to maximise the benefit from each Partnership's work. The group is chaired by Richard Cresswell, Regional Director for the Environment Agency in the South West, facilitated by the UK Climate Impacts Programme and supported and part-funded by Defra (Adapting to Climate Change Programme). Climate UK now has a single web portal with links to each of the region’s websites, making it easier for you to find out about current activity and responses to climate change around the UK. Take a look at: http://www.climateuk.net.
May 2010

Climate change and volcanic activity
The eruptions from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland (Eyjafjallajökull means "glacier on the Eyja-mountain") and the recent earthquake in China has raised awareness in the media of the influence of climate change and atmospheric shifts on seismic activity. Whilst there is no evidence to link Iceland's eruption or the earthquake in China to climate change, researchers are suggesting there is an increasing amount of evidence linking man made climate change to natural disasters such as landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis from underwater landslides and volcanic eruptions. Land "rebounding" as the weight of melting ice is removed and lower air pressure caused by typhoons could, for example, result in increased seismic activity.
    This month researchers have warned in the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions publication that the Earth’s crust could be affected by melting ice, sea level rises and even increasingly heavy storms and rainfall - predicted consequences of rising global temperatures. Researchers are advocating more research to gain a better understanding of how contemporary climate change may drive hazardous geological and geomorphological activity, identify those parts of the world that are most susceptible and provide a more robust appreciation of potential impacts for society and infrastructure.
    A summary of their research stated: "Periods of exceptional climate change in Earth history are associated with a dynamic response from the geosphere, involving enhanced levels of potentially hazardous geological and geomorphological activity. The response is expressed through the adjustment, modulation or triggering of a broad range of surface and crustal phenomena, including volcanic and seismic activity, submarine and subaerial landslides, tsunamis and landslide 'splash' waves, glacial outburst and rock-dam failure floods, debris flows and gas-hydrate destabilization. In relation to anthropogenic climate change, modelling studies and projection of current trends point towards increased risk in relation to a spectrum of geological and geomorphological hazards in a warmer world, while observations suggest that the ongoing rise in global average temperatures may already be eliciting a hazardous response from the geosphere."
April 2010

UK Government publishes Departmental Adaptation Plans
On 31 March government departments published Departmental Adaptation Plans, setting out their key risks and priorities on climate change, and Carbon Reduction Delivery Plans (work led by Department of Energy and Climate Change). Departments were encouraged to take a joint approach and some have produced combined Climate Change plans.
    The plans set out how each main govenrment department will reduce emissions from their own estate and operations and, where applicable, in the sectors where they have an influence. They show how they will monitor progress to achieve reductions and illustrate how departments will cope with the effects of climate change that we can expect. All Departmental Adaptation Plans are available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/programme/across-government.htm.
April 2010

£2.6 million flood protection grants for homes announced
The second round of a £5.5 million grant scheme to help households better protect their homes against flooding was announced on 11 March 2010 by Environment Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies. The Property Level Flood Protection Grant Scheme is part of the Government’s response to Sir Michael Pitt’s review of the 2007 floods. In this the second phase, £2.6 million will be allocated to 34 schemes in areas at high risk of flooding, enabling 532 households to benefit from practical flood protection solutions such as air bricks covers, storm porches, door guards and flood boards.
    In the first round of funding, £3 million was made available to 25 local authorities to protect up to 593 properties across England. In this second round, South West local authorities awarded grants are: West Devon Borough Council, North Devon Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council, Teignbridge District Council, and Bournemouth Borough Council.
    The Government's response to the Pitt review into the 2007 floods can be found at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/flooding/risk/floodreview2007.htm.
March 2010

Met Office: 'Noughties' confirmed as the warmest decade on record
The first decade of this century has been, by far, the warmest decade on the instrumental record. New figures released show that — despite 1998 being the warmest individual year — the last ten years have clearly been the warmest period in the 160-year record of global surface temperature, maintained jointly by the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. Similar results are revealed in the independent analyses made by the United State National Climatic Data Center and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. These figures highlight that the world continues to see global temperature rise, most of which is due to increasing emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and clearly shows that the argument that global warming has stopped is flawed. For further information visit: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2009/pr20091208b.html.
February 2010

Flood warning service rolled out
The Environment Agency has rolled out an opt-out automatic flood warning service to 500,000 people at risk from flooding across England and Wales, as recommended by the Pitt Review of the summer 2007 floods. All relevant properties will be written to explaining that they may receive flood warnings from now, although they will be able to opt-out if it if they wish. A supporting booklet giving more information about flood codes, the free flood warning service, frequently asked questions and advice on preparing for a flood will also be sent. For more information about the Environment Agency Flood Warnings and preparing for flooding, visit http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/default.aspx.
February 2010

UK Marine projection pages and briefing notes added to the MCCIP website
To help users get the most out of the latest ‘UKCP09’ marine and coastal projections, new pages have recently been added to the MCCIP (Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership) website. These pages are intended to highlight some of the key findings from UKCP09, to help the wider marine and coastal community get the most out of the projections. Quick links to some of the most immediately relevant sections in the marine and coastal report (including maps) are provided, as well as links to the user interface. Two new summary notes, entitled ‘UKCP09 marine and coastal projections summary’ and ‘Key UKCP09 marine and coastal variables explained’ provide succinct, at-a-glance overviews of the new projections. These notes have been written by MCCIP in conjunction with the Met Office and UKCIP to help explain what the marine and coastal projections are, what is included, and why they are important for the UK marine and coastal community.
    To access the new pages go to http://www.mccip.org.uk/projections.
February 2010

Reservoir safety to be improved
The safety of communities near large reservoirs would be improved under plans set out by Defra on 12 January 2010, which would require owners or operators of all large reservoirs to produce a detailed flood plan. Sir Michael Pitt recommended in his review of the summer 2007 floods that reservoir safety should be improved.
    There are over 2000 large raised reservoirs in England and Wales. The proposals set out in the consultation would mean that owners or operators of at least the 100 highest risk reservoirs around the country would be required to produce a flood plan. These reservoirs are no more likely to fail than any others, but are considered to be "highest risk" on the basis of the number of people potentially affected if a reservoir were to fail. The consultation seeks views on the proposal to require these flood plans, the proposed content of the plans, and which reservoirs should be required to comply.
    The Government has already provided £1.25 million to enable local authorities and other organisations to prepare emergency plans including informing residents if they live in reservoir flood zones. Under the proposals, reservoir owners would have a year to complete their reservoir flood plans. They would be legally required to comply and the Environment Agency would have the power to prosecute for failure to do so.
    The full consultation can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/reservoir/index.htm.
January 2010

Copenhagen
With the historic climate change conference COP15 (15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) taking place in Copenhagen this month, you can follow developments hour by hour on the 'Act on Copenhagen' website www.actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk. You can register on that website for regular updates throughout the negotiations.
    Act on Copenhagen is the online voice of the UK Government on Copenhagen, and will aim to cover as much as possible of what the UK delegation is doing in Copenhagen, as well as other activities relevant to the conference, through a choice of 5 stories every day. If you would rather get a snapshot of the day, then you should visit www.decc.gov.uk, where you will see all main stories with links to further developments. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Copenhagen) website is at http://unfccc.int.
December 2009

The impact of a global temperature rise of 4°C
The impacts of climate change will be widespread across the globe. In order to understand more about what the human impact of high-end climate change might be, and therefore what would happen if a successful agreement can not be reached at Copenhagen in December, the UK's Met Office Hadley Centre has produced a map outlining some of the impacts that may occur if the global average temperature rises by 4°C above the pre-industrial climate average. The map represents the latest peer-reviewed science on the impacts. For further information and to see the 4°C map click here: www.actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk.
November 2009

Funding announced for local community flood protection
Local communities across England will benefit from £16 million funding to help them tackle surface water flooding, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced on 18 August 2009. £9.7M will help the top 77 local authorities develop surface water management plans where the consequences of surface water flooding are expected to be highest have been identified from new studies which model the effects of very severe rainfall. Such storms can occur anywhere and are expected to become more frequent in the future with climate change.
    Funding will be in the form of area-based and capital grants between August 2009 and March 2011. South West local authorities to benefit are Bristol, Bournemouth, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Plymouth, Somerset and Swindon. Local authorities for all other areas will also be able to bid for a share of £5 million to help them deal with known local flooding problems. Defra is also spending £1 million on making training, data and other tools available to help all local authorities manage flood risk.
    The announcement can be found on Defra’s archived web page from this link: national archive - Defra - 18.8.09. The Environment Agency estimates that around two-thirds of the flooding (affecting 57,000 properties) in summer 2007 was due to surface water. Surface water flooding is also extremely difficult to predict as it is often a result of sudden localised rainfall events, and very small variations in the built environment can have significant effects on the way water flows. Climate change projections indicate that intense rainfall events are likely to increase resulting in an increased risk of surface water flooding.
August 2009