Huge smoke plume over Nottingham as firefighters tackle blaze
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Deadly heatwaves are the new reality – we need to transform the UK's cities and towns to survive them
There's a lot to be anxious about as a new parent, let alone in a heatwave when the thermometer in your one-year-old daughter's room is reading 26C. That's six degrees higher than the upper limit of the recommended temperature for a child's room. After scrolling my phone for advice on how to cool her room, I couldn't help waking up every few hours to check she was OK on the baby monitor. In the UK, we are unprepared at every level for the extreme weather caused by climate breakdown. Whether it's unbearably hot buildings in the summer, our damp and cold homes (some of the leakiest in Europe) filled with mould in the winter, our unprotected towns built on flood plains, or our unfit-for-purpose train tracks that get shut down at the slightest weather warning, the climate crisis is already wreaking havoc on public and private infrastructure – and it's only getting worse. Despite heatwaves becoming more common in the UK, the dangers from extreme heat are not well known. Heatwaves are often described as 'silent killers' – elderly and vulnerable people are at risk of dying alone and in their homes. At the moment, the government's own advisers say that heat deaths could rise several times over to exceed 10,000 in an average year by 2050 without action. Vulnerable groups such as disabled people, elderly people and children are most at risk from extreme heat. But low-paid workers and those forced to work outside are at high risk as well. Take the example of the Spanish street sweeper who died last week in Barcelona after working for hours in the heat of the day, or the construction worker David Azevedo who died in France in 2022. The main solution offered up to us is air conditioning – but it actively worsens climate effects and extreme heat for everyone else by pumping hot air into the streets while using huge amounts of power. Air conditioning can actually raise the temperature of cities by more than 2C, and it was found that cooling measures accounted for an estimated 37% of the increase in US electricity demand during April-September 2024 compared with the same period the year before. Instead of jumping to this as the only solution, we need to embrace practical, low-carbon solutions such as increasing tree cover and greenery in our cities, and utilising the shade they provide to release water vapour into the air and improve air quality. The government could invest in water-cooling methods such as sustainable fountains, splash pads and spray parks, protect bodies of water such as canals, and continue to implement measures to lessen car use – while prioritising air conditioning for the places that need it most such as hospitals, care homes, public transport and nurseries. Redesigning our cities and towns this way could be transformative. For example, Barcelona has a burgeoning network of more than 400 free shelters that offer refuge from sweltering summer heat and the winter cold. And in Singapore, open spaces around buildings have been added in addition to extending green spaces and implementing other measures such as using lighter colours on roofs and walls. Homeowners should be supported, and landlords required to reduce internal heat in houses. Councils and governments should be upgrading social infrastructure, including hospitals and nursing homes, with insulation, reflective surfaces and good ventilation to avoid them from overheating. We could also begin exploring the use of green walls and roofs as well as external shading through trees, awnings, external blinds and shutters. Investing in these measures could be supported by a fairer taxation system, to ensure polluting corporations and those with extreme wealth pay up to help tackle these issues. It's not just regulation and building rules that should be changed – we need to ensure workers' rights are at the heart of adaptation planning too. While there are accepted lower temperature limits for workplaces, there is still no legal upper limit for how hot an office or factory can be. This must be changed to ensure workers are protected and employers invest in heatproofing. The TUC, among other trade union bodies, wants to see a legal maximum temperature for indoor work of 30C (27C for those doing strenuous work). There should also be a legal duty for employers to protect those working outside by providing sun protection and water, and organising work so they are not outside during the hottest part of the day. Local authorities could help the public make sensible decisions by giving timely information on heat warnings. And the NHS must do more to alert vulnerable people with heart and respiratory conditions to the dangers, as rates of death caused by heat start to climb at much lower temperatures than we expect. As we make the case for these necessary and fair adaptations to a warming world, we must not forget that there is still a moral case to reduce our emissions. Every degree of warming makes a difference to the overall impact on our planet and humanity at large – and to approach the adaptation debate with an either/or mindset is to lose on both fronts. It is challenging, but the truth is we must not just accept the trajectory we are on as if we have no power to change course. We must double down on our efforts to push our political leaders to drastically reduce our emissions in a way that is fair, as well as investing in the resilience of communities to ensure we are able to live well as temperatures continue to rise. There is still time. Hannah Martin is the co-director of Green New Deal Rising which is campaigning for a green new deal The rise of climate denialism, with George Monbiot and special guests On Tuesday 16 September, join George Monbiot, Mikaela Loach and other special guests, discussing the forces driving the big climate pushback, live at the Barbican, and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
How is climate change affecting Gloucestershire?
Gloucestershire is the driest county in the West, with less rainfall then Wiltshire, Somerset and Bristol, Met Office statistics a particularly dry spring followed by a hot June has resulted in challenges for the county's agriculture and follows a wet winter, which caused farmers to lose thousands of pounds in crop Short, professor of environmental governance at the University of Gloucestershire, said that, due to the effects of climate change, he was predicting unpredictability in the county and beyond. Here we take a look at examples of how farms, rivers and vineyards are faring in Gloucestershire. Crop failure An incredibly wet period in autumn meant all the wheat crops that were sown at Blackhouse Farm in Newent were wiped Lowe, whose family have owned the farm since the 1950s, had to start again, opting instead to grow maize for animal process cost him £30,000. "We came to the spring with practically no crops established," Mr Lowe said. "It is becoming more tricky, all farmers feel they are slaves to mother nature – and you've got to work with mother nature, not fight her, because she will win every time," Mr Lowe farm has a water gauge that shows it has had only two spells of rain since the start of April, both about 0.4in to 0.6in (10mm to 15mm)."We have to tailor our cropping depending on what situation arises, for example, we've ended up planting maize because it was the last option we had," he said. Low rivers Those monitoring the River Churn, a tributary of the Thames, have measured 10 million litres of water flowing every this time of year, the flow rate should be double that number, experts say."We've effectively had the driest spring on record for the Churn catchment and large parts of the Cotswolds," said hydrogeologist Dr Mike river is lower than it was in 2022, which was the last time the area experienced a significant dry spell and heatwave, Dr Jones added: "Ultimately later on in the year we ended up in a declared drought with temporary use bans. "I don't want to give an alarmist view but that's the sort of situation we are in today on the Churn." Dr Jones is also a member of the group Friends of the Gumstool Brook, an offshoot of the group has been trying to improve river flow into the stream, but given that the Churn in Cirencester has been recorded to have its "lowest and slowest flow this early in the year", it has been a difficult Office statistics show that from April to June 2022, 4.8in (123mm) of rain fell in Gloucestershire – and only 3.1in (79mm) fell in the same period this year. Boost for vineyards Vineyards in Gloucestershire have had a particularly good year, with the dry weather and long sunny days helping bring the grapes on follows one of the poorest years last year with lots of rain – which was "disastrous" for the crop, said Martin Fowke, of Three Choirs Vineyard."We are flowering at the moment which is two weeks earlier than we would expect to be and that gives us a longer growing season and the opportunity for more ripeness," he said. Mr Fowke said he believed this year was drier than 2018, which was the most recent comparable to trade body WineGB, there are now 4,209 hectares of vineyards in the UK, with English wine said to contribute several billion pounds in economic activity annually. Proposed solutions So how do we change our environment in order to cope with the new weather patterns brought about by climate change?Professor Chris Short, from the University of Gloucestershire, regularly speaks to farmers about the measures they can put in place to cope with higher temperatures in the summer and heavier rainfall in the said: "The key thing they [farmers] are recognising is the one thing they can manage is their soil."They need their soil to be as healthy as possible so it can retain moisture for longer." Professor Short has been looking at increasing soil health by diversifying crops, meaning a number of different crops are planted in the same field. This not only makes soil healthier but gives farmers options should a crop has also been research looking at shading crops under more trees is an approach that has been suggested for urban areas too, although Professor Short said much more may need to be done besides."We have so much hard surface in our cities, if you have those very localised, very heavy rainfall events, whatever system you have in place isn't going to sustain that," he professor proposes use of green walls, green roofs and permeable surfaces to slow rain water down and reduce flash flooding."Several people have commented maybe this is the new norm: we can predict it's going to become unpredictable," he said.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Your photos from across West Midlands: A week of heatwave weather
We love to feature your photographs showing the beauty of the West Midlands and here are some of the best from the past your images via BBC Weather Watchers or email us at midlandstoday@ inspiration, view some top tips from three of England's Big Picture photographers. When emailing pictures, please make sure you include the following information:The full name of the person who took the pictures (as this person owns the copyright)Confirmation that the copyright holder gives permission for the BBC to use their pictures across all its outputsThe location, date and time the pictures were takenYour telephone number so we can get back to you if we have any further other details about the pictures that may be useful for us to knowPlease note that while we welcome all your pictures, we are more likely to use those which have been taken in the past week. Follow for more pictures on Instagram from BBC Birmingham, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, BBC Hereford & Worcester, BBC Shropshire, BBC Stoke & Staffordshire and BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country
