LONDON: England must prepare for global warming of up to 4 degrees Celsius (7.2°F) that threatens to put millions of households at risk of devastating flooding, a public body warned on Thursday.
Officials must spend £1 billion ($1.30 billion) per year to strengthen England’s flood and coast defences to protect communities, the Environment Agency (EA) said as it launched a long-term strategy to tackle the issues.
“The coastline has never stayed in the same place and there have always been floods, but climate change is increasing and accelerating these threats,” said EA chairwoman Emma Howard Boyd in a statement.
“We need to develop consistent standards for flood and coastal resilience in England that help communities better understand their risk and give them more control about how to adapt and respond.” England is at high risk from flooding as sea levels rise and climate change drives more extreme weather.
Global leaders have pledged to attempt to limit global warming to 2C above pre-industrial temperatures but the head of the last year warned not enough action was being taken and the world is currently on track to warm between 3 and 5C.
London used to flood during storm surges until the Thames Barrier came into use in 1982, protecting the city. Now some British towns are following the capital’s lead in building flood barriers. — Reuters
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