Cambridgeshire Warned To Prepare For Climate Change Impacts

The county of Cambridgeshire has been issued a warning to prepare now for the impacts of climate change, with a new report revealing that the region will soon start seeing summer temperatures climb to 40 degrees C and 50 per cent more rain in winter.

Carried out by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Independent Commission on Climate, the study said work must now be done to rapidly reduce the county’s emissions, which are above the national average, the Cambridge Independent reports.

It confirmed that Cambridgeshire’s permissible share of emissions to 2050 could be exhausted inside six years if urgent action isn’t taken – but it remains to be seen how quickly the region will be able to adapt to the necessary changes.

Water supplies are already under serious pressure in the county, with campaigners saying that over-abstraction from the local chalk aquifer is having an impact on the health of rivers like the Cam, affecting its biodiversity.

In 2018, the highest temperature in the UK was recorded in Cambridge at 38.7 degrees C and the report predicts that these temperatures will be the norm by 2050.

It went on to highlight the need for transformation across national and local government, the community, businesses and at an individual level if the region is to mitigate the impacts of climate change and ready itself for hotter summers and more intense storms, which could result in flooding.

The report continued: ““Many of the risks to the UK from climate change are particularly acute in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough: the risk of flooding, very high summer temperatures, water shortages, and damage to the natural carbon stores in the deep peat of the Fens. We all need to act, and we must act now, to avoid the most damaging aspects of climate change.

“If we act in the right way we can also deliver benefits and opportunities, including new jobs in low carbon industries, safer and more comfortable homes and workplaces with lower energy bills, better air quality and more greenspace and access to nature, improving our health and wellbeing.”

Of course, Cambridgeshire isn’t the only region in England expecting to face water stress in the near future, with new figures from the Environment Agency revealing that the number is, in fact, on the rise – driven by over-abstraction, climate change and population growth.

In 2013, there were seven water suppliers operating in water-stressed regions – Affinity, Anglian, SES, Essex and Suffolk, South East, Southern and Thames. This has now doubled to include Cambridge, Portsmouth, Severn Trent, South Staffordshire, South West Water, Veolia and Wessex.

If you’re concerned about water stress in your region and want to do your bit to relieve pressure on supplies, safeguarding them for future generations, get in touch with SwitchWaterSupplier.com today to see how we can help improve the water resilience of your business today.