Climate Change

 The gulf stream may stop or be greatly reduced.  This would mean that less heat is brought to north-west Europe - harsher winters and mild summers.

Flooding

The UK has experienced devastating floods throughout the last five years, which have affected thousands of people and caused millions of pounds worth of damage. Last Summer’s floods shocked the country – Large town were cut off or under threat of flooding e.g. Oxford, Tewksbury and Gloucester.  Five million people in England and Wales are now at risk from flooding every year and two million homes have been built on the floodplain of rivers. Insurance companies are faced with increasing bills.  Therefore they put up their premiums enormously or in some cases refuse to ensure homes in high risk areas.

The Environment Agency throughout the UK are also looking into the problem of flood defences.  These schemes are very expensive and may not be sustainable. Flood plains are supposed to flood – building must be restricted in these areas.  However, for many homeowners it is too late.

Agriculture

For the UK, temperature rises look likely to mean the crops we would normally see growing in the south of the country will be able to be grown further north. Products which haven't been farmed over here before, such as sweetcorn, sunflowers, soya and maize for cereals, could all provide new business for farmers. Farmers will have to cope with droughts and heat waves.They will have to use water more carefully and develop irrigation schemes. Agricultural pests - Animal diseases once only found further south have started to appear in Britain e.g. Blue Tongue.

Health

With winters becoming milder, there are likely to be up to 20,000 fewer cold-related deaths. However, there is a danger that bacteria would no longer die-off seasonally during the prolonged cold spell meaning that diseases may spread more widely. Higher average global temperatures mean that tropical diseases, or their carriers, may be able to move to the British Isles e.g.

•  Malaria
•  Lyme disease
•  Cholera
•  Dengue fever
•  Yellow fever

Therefore:

•   More heat waves will increase the number of hot-weather related deaths by up to 2,800.
•   Exposure to higher levels of UV light could cause an extra 5,000 deaths a year from skin cancer.
•   Warmer summers may cause up to 10,000 extra cases of food poisoning each year.

Wildlife

Basking sharks - Usually found along the west coast of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland they are now found all around our coastline as they follow the blooms of plankton they feed on. e.g. Strangford Lough.

Terns - Internationally important breeding colonies of terns nest perilously close to the sea edge. With rising sea levels and increasing stormy weather, they are at risk of being lost as their breeding grounds becoming flooded.

Wading birds - The salt marsh and mud flats which they call home will become squeezed by rising sea levels, leaving them nowhere to go.

Celtic Sea Slug - A Mediterranean species currently found in rock pools in Cornwall. Alien plants: e.g. three cornered leek, Bermuda buttercup, hottentot fig. These species are spreading and could threaten many plants as they become dominant.

Grey seal - Uses isolated beaches to hide pups born in the autumn. With sea-levels rising beaches will become narrower with rising sea levels putting baby seals at higher risk of being washed away e.g. Strangford Lough