We keep seeing evidence that our climate is changing rapidly, with more extreme weather causing casualties, damage to infrastructure and businesses, and degradation of our natural environment.
I spoke recently on how the latest planetary health check is telling us that earth is profoundly ill and that many of the vital signs are sounding alarms. We have a responsibility to future generations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to Net Zero to stabilise the climate. And we also have a responsibility to future generations to accelerate our efforts to adapt to climate change and the extreme weather events we are seeing now.
Today, the government has published its new Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Framework (CARIF), which describes the research and innovation needed to enable adaptation in the UK. Almost every aspect of our lives will be touched by climate change, from buildings – our homes, schools and workplaces, to how we move around – roads and trains, to business and finance – be it farming or protecting supply chains. This is a moment to take a step forward in safeguarding the UK against the worst effects of climate change.
Why is climate adaptation so important?
Earth’s climate is now about 1.3°C warmer than in the pre-industrial period, and last year was the first above 1.5°C.
The latest State of the UK Climate reported that in the most recent decade (2014-2023), the number of ‘hot days’ (28°C) have more than doubled, and ‘very hot days’ (30°C) have more than trebled compared to 1961-1990. The most recent decade has also had around 20% more days of exceptional rainfall compared to the 1961-1990.
The UK will see more frequent and intense heatwaves like we saw in the summer of 2022, when 40°C temperatures were reached for the first time in the UK. More frequent and intense downpours of rain will challenge the capacity of drainage infrastructure. Prolonged dry spells will challenge agriculture methods. New hazards are also emerging and will become more widespread, for example the incidence of wildfires.
We need to adapt, and adapt fast, if we are to cope with these new weather extremes, and the impacts of future warming.
How is the Met Office helping with climate adaptation?
Dame Angela McLean, the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, highlights UK expertise in the CARIF foreword: “The UK has world-leading science capabilities which we can harness to ensure we are ready for future climate impacts”. The Met Office plays an important role in identifying and supporting the development of adaptation to make the UK weather ready.
For example, the Met Office is developing new climate advice with local authorities to equip them with the information needed to make adaptation plans and decisions, empowering local authorities to increase their resilience and meet statutory requirements. The Local Authority Climate Service is publicly available and funded by Defra.
As a second example, the Met Office is working with the Department for Education to help map risks from present and future climate change, for example around how heatwaves might affect school buildings.
And as a third example, the Met Office is working with the Bank of England and the UK finance sector to better quantify how changing extreme weather can be incorporated into their risk management and adaptation plans, and indeed how businesses more generally need to factor in climate change.
Met Office science, services, and weather and climate intelligence are crucial to support public resilience to climate impacts and to ensure that emergency responders, infrastructure providers, food producers and supply chains can plan for, and maintain, operations during extreme events.
Keeping up with the weather
The imperative for us to reach Net Zero emissions to stabilise climate is well appreciated. The imperative to adapt to climate change needs a push if we are going to keep pace with rapid changes in extreme weather. CARIF will help us focus our efforts on the most pressing research needs for the UK, contributing to the health of the UK economy, the people of the UK, and its natural environment. And the Met Office is playing its part by providing world leading science to help address the challenges of extreme weather in a changing climate.
