The Background
There are two types of action on climate change: the one people are mostly familiar with (climate mitigation) is to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions so we slow down the process of global warming. The object is to try to reach a point where greenhouse gas emissions are balanced by measures which have reduced emissions so there is no net increase. COP 26 (held in 2021) envisaged the average global temperature rise could be stabilised at 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels. But the temperature is rising faster than was envisaged in 2021 and so we are now risking more extreme weather events coming sooner than we thought. This is due to a general lack of progress in reducing emissions .
With sea and air temperatures rising the extra energy increases the intensity of hurricanes of which Beryl is an example. And in this part of the world there is an increasing tendency for wetter winters and hotter and drier summers.
As temperatures creep up another effect happens. These are referred to as a “tipping points.” An example is snow and ice melting in polar regions. These reflect light from the sun back into the atmosphere and space. Land without snow and sea without ice absorbs the heat from the sun and so a feedback loop occurs which reinforces increasing temperatures. This adds to global warming as well as sea level rises.
And even if the world manages to stabilise temperatures at some point in the future the process of ice melting in polar regions would continue into the future. Higher sea levels and surge tides cause particular damage and flooding in coastal areas.
The other type of action on climate change is “Adaptation and Resilience.” It is about planning measures to live with a changing climate and responding better to extreme weather events when they happen (resilience).
Climate Change Adaptation
Responsibility for the infrastructure underpinning our way of life is down to central and local government and utility companies. This includes designing and building coastal protection, flood relief schemes and a host of other measures including energy supply and distribution and the building of new reservoirs for the maintenance of drinking water supply.
But there are smaller projects that we can take forward as individuals and as small communities to better prepare for the problems of more extreme weather. This can range from making our gardens more absorbent to rainfall by reducing the area of impermeable landscaping, installing water butts to reduce water demand and planting more trees both to absorb water and provide shade. We could also help to identify areas in our neighbourhood where concrete, bitumen and other hard surfacing could be replaced by more absorbent areas – a “sponge city” approach. Another area for consideration is local community energy projects and there are examples in our area.
Climate change adaptation measures can also help biodiversity. Green corridors alongside rivers and streams can help to reduce flooding through tree planting schemes. They can also allow wildlife corridors to connect and sustain areas of important diversity and local communities and volunteers can become involved in their creation.
The Chichester Climate Change Group (C3G) and our colleagues in Transition Town Chichester and in Chichester u3a felt it was timely to have a meeting that informs us about what to expect from the future and to point the way to local practical solutions to better protect us and biodiversity from extreme weather. We have several excellent local speakers qualified to take us through these issues from their experience and knowledge. We will also have a question time panel to try and answer some of your queries.
Colin McKenna, Chairman, C3G