Climate change: what's in store where you live?
East Midlands:
Two climate campaigners from the action group Plane Stupid glued themselves to the doors of East Midlands airport in June 2007 to highlight the environmental impacts of flying.
The East Midlands is an important region for agriculture, employing around 40,000 people on a mix of upland grazing, livestock farming and mixed and arable farming in the more fertile areas. Climate change will bring hotter, drier summers to the region, forcing more farmers to rely on irrigation to water their crops. Water supplies will become even more stretched than they are at the moment, but – somewhat ironically – too much rain will also cause problems.
Temperatures and rainfall patterns in the East Midlands have already changed during the last century, with sea levels rising up to 2mm per year on the East Coast. The UK Climate Impacts Change Programme predicts the Midlands’ climate will continue to get warmer and wetter, with more storms and flooding in the winter and more droughts in the summer.
By 2050, according to the Environment Agency, annual mean temperatures in the East Midlands could rise by up to 2.3°C, with the greatest temperature hikes taking place in the south of the region. At the same time, winter rainfall could increase by up to 13% and summer rainfall could decrease by up to 18%. Computer predictions suggest sea levels on the East Coast could rise by up to 83cm. By 2080, average annual temperatures could increase by up to 5°C, with the most pronounced effects being felt in inner cities. Summer rainfall may decrease by up as much as 60% and winter rainfall may increase by up to 30%.
Evidence suggests rising river temperatures in the East Midlands may already be contributing to a decline in fish populations. Agricultural land is expected to suffer from erosion and shrinkage. The types of agriculture and crops grown will change, as will the threat from pests, with insects such as the Colorado Beetle – famous for its insatiable appetite for potato crops – invading the region in ever greater numbers. Changes to the coastal region will affect wildlife, with wading birds expected to suffer most.
Find out what's in store elsewhere in the UK:
