Flood maps, peat bogs
and help for businesses
are just a few of the things that are helping
people in the North East adapt to the impact
of climate change.Flood maps, peat bogs
and help for businesses are just a few of
the things that are helping people i
The region is already experiencing the impact
of climate change with more extreme weather
such as the heavy rain which fell over Morpeth
in 2008 and flooded 1,000 homes.
More than £400,000
is being spent this year alone on six projects
in the region which will reduce the risk
and misery of flooding by looking at adapting
to future climate change.
The projects are being
funded by the Northumbria Regional Flood
Defence Committee through its Local Levy
which this year raised £1.8 million
from local authorities across the region
for local projects.
Levy manager Peter Kerr
said: “Climate change is already happening.
Eleven of the twelve hottest years on record
globally were in the last twelve years and
average global temperatures are already
approaching one degree celsius higher than
in the pre-industrial age.
“Everyone needs to take
action now, and the work has already started
in the North East. The projects involve
a broad range of people who are pioneering
new approaches which, if successful, could
be adopted across the country.”
The innovative approaches
includes:
• Working with experts
at the Met Office to discover which weather
situations out at sea are likely to lead
to flooding in the North East. There has
already been a lot of work on long-range
forecasting but this looks at different
variables such as sea temperatures to identify
links and provide longer notice of severe
conditions.
Forecasting is unpredictable, however any
patterns would give an early warning to
emergency services. This project is the
first of its kind in the UK.
• Working with a network
of business advisors through Business Link
to ensure that the region’s economy is resilient
to climate change. Workshops are being held
in January where business advisors will
be trained to advise firms on how to adapt
to the increased risk of flooding, extreme
temperatures or water shortages.
• Mapping Northumberland’s
roads that are liable to flooding. During
heavy rain, roads become flooded which can
make it difficult to reach remote communities,
or to relocate emergency equipment. This
project maps out the most vulnerable roads
in the region and the information will be
made available to Environment Agency staff
and other emergency services.
• Working with farmers
and rural communities in Northumberland
to adapt to the impact of climate change.
The initiative is called Cheviot Futures
and trials new farming and land management
techniques such as natural windbreaks on
Millfield Plain, to the east of Wooler.
This protects farms from soil and wind erosion
and helps to protect vital crops which bring
revenue to the local economy. Other work
includes farm flood planning, wildfire training
and help with irrigation techniques.
• The Northumberland
Community Flooding Partnership is providing
support to communities across rural Northumberland
to set up flood warden groups and agree
local resilience measures.
This week sees the start
of the Copenhagen conference where delegates
from nearly 200 countries will hold a fortnight
of talks aimed at establishing a new global
treaty on climate change.
The Environment Agency
believes that the longer an agreement on
emission reductions is delayed, the more
severe the impacts could be, and the more
drastic the solutions.
Peter said: “The Copenhagen
summit is the start, not the end of the
process. Here in the North East, people
are pulling together to tackle the climate
challenge and hopefully the work will inspire
similar projects across the country.”
