Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
Shifts towards “drier and hotter summers will increase the intensity of summer heatwaves and droughts, with rising risks of surface water flooding”.
More than half of the UK’s top quality agricultural land and more than a third of railways and roads are also at risk of floods, the committee said.
Today’s problem
Some 6.3 million properties in England are in flood-risk zones, with the number set to rise to eight million by 2050, or one in four properties.
High temperatures will cause some 10,000 deaths a year by 2050.
“We can’t be clear enough about our message, we cannot wait to take action. This is not tomorrow’s problem. It’s today’s problem, and if we don’t do something about it, it will become tomorrow’s disaster,” King told journalists, as she presented the report.
“The threat is greatest for the most vulnerable. We do not have resilient hospitals, schools or care homes,” King added.
None of the areas evaluated by the committee, including agriculture, water supplies, transport or building satisfactorily met the standards to be labelled as “good”.
The panel made four key recommendations including improving objectives and targets, and coordination across government departments.
“Our farms are under water, food prices are going up, homes are wrecked and ordinary people count the cost,” said senior Greenpeace climate coordinator Phil Evans, urging the government to “bolster Britain’s resilience”.
Friends of the Earth said the government’s adaptation plans were “not fit for purpose” and called for “an ambitious plan that helps safeguard our homes and communities now and for the future”.
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
