Climate change - background
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 Climate
change is the biggest threat to the natural world and will have huge
implications for the way we live our lives.
Figures released by the
Met Office
show that 2004 was the fourth warmest year globally since records
began in 1861 and the fifth warmest year for England. The last ten
years have seen nine of the ten warmest years on record, with only
1996 not making the top ten.
The evidence is damning and predictions for the future horrifying.
At a meeting of the UN’s
Intergovernmental
Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in 2001, more than 150
scientists and government representatives unanimously accepted that
climate change in the 20th Century could be attributed to human
activity. Average temperatures worldwide have increased in the
last century by
0.6°C, but are now predicted to rise by up to 5.8°C
by 2100. The
UK Climate Impacts Programme suggested in 2002 that Britain
and Ireland will experience temperature increases varying from
0.1-0.5ºC per decade. There will be increases in winter rainfall and
increased drought in southern England affecting water availability
by the 2050s.
We saw unprecedented loss of
semi-natural habitats in the last century from agriculture and
development. Those sites that survive are fragmented and
isolated, operating as islands in hostile surroundings. The rate of
climate change will place huge demands on species to move.
Species typical of ancient woodland have poor powers of
dispersal.
Phenology, the study of the timing of natural events in relation to
climate, is already revealing staggering trends in the responses of
species to temperature change.
Without a major rethink in policy with action to cut emissions
drastically and to help us to adapt to unavoidable climate change, our natural
world could face catastrophic consequences in coming decades.
Habitats need to be part of landscapes that give them the
space they and their wildlife need to adapt and evolve in the face of
change. This requires the creation of new woodland and
open ground habitats and
agriculture that is more sympathetic to wildlife. This vision
is not at odds with society’s needs; and it can contribute towards
rural development, flood alleviation, recreation and tourism, as well
as economic and other benefits that add to our
quality of life.
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More information on climate change
including the Trust's position statement, information on helping
biodiversity adapt to change, and climate budgets and how they might
work.
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