by Freya Aitchison
It wasn’t just a bit of rain – flooding and landslides made more likely by climate change
Last week, parts of Argyll were completely cut off by a series of floods and landslides caused by unusually heavy rainfall.
Every major road into mid, north and south Argyll from the rest of the country was closed, with people being warned not to travel and all public transport connections cancelled.
The impact of this kind of disruption is difficult to quantify, not just for those who needed airlifted out from the A815 near Cairndow or for those with property destroyed by the flooding, but also for businesses unable to bring in supplies, people unable to get to the shops or school or work or the hospital, and emergency services unable to reach people in need.
In a rural place like Argyll, connected by only a few roads and rail links and surrounded by water, we are very vulnerable to being cut off like this.
This kind of disruption is not normal. Extreme weather events like this are becoming both more common and more severe because of climate change.
It’s becoming impossible to ignore the impacts of our planet’s warming.
A report in 2019 found that the UK is experiencing the biggest change in flooding trends in Europe, with flooding increasing by 11poer cent per decade over the last 50 years.
The cost of dealing with the impacts of flooding is huge, and is forecast to increase by 20 per cent due to climate-induced extreme weather events.
It’s clear that the disruption we all experienced from the recent flooding and landslides is just the beginning of the chaos that could be caused by runaway climate change.
Picture what would happen if the same level of rainfall had continued over two days, or a week, or longer.
Emergency services such as the coastguard, ambulances and the fire service, already stretched to their limits, will struggle to keep up with demand and to reach people in need.
The Fire Brigade Union, tasked with dealing with many of the impacts of flooding, has called on the UK Government to tackle the climate crisis at the source, warning that not enough resources are being put into adaptation to the impacts of climate breakdown.
The truth is that we are going to see more of this kind of disruption, even if carbon dioxide emissions stop tomorrow.
Global temperatures have already warmed by over 1.1ºC, and some of the impacts of that are locked in.
We can prevent the damage getting worse by tackling emissions at their source, but we also need to get better at dealing with the impacts of climate change when they come.
Disruption can be limited by having plans and resources in place to deal with events as they happen.
In the longer term, we can invest in preventative measures to limit the scale of the flooding and the landslides – better drainage, more stable hillsides.
The main thing, however, is to recognise that extreme weather events like these have a cause, and we can do something about that.
It’s not just a bit of rain – flooding and landslides cause mass disruption and lasting damage to people’s lives, property and the local economy.
By addressing climate change and lowering emissions, we can also lower the risk of similar events happening in the future. Climate change is happening before our eyes, but it can be reversed if we act now.
If you’re worried about the future and want to take action on a local and national scale, you can join Time for Change Argyll & Bute by heading to our website at www.timeforchangeargyllandbute.com and signing up for our mailing list.
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/press/changing-climate-linked-major-changes-flooding
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64866058