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How climate change, ill health and fuel poverty are linked. What it means for London and How will it affect its most vulnerable residents.
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Spiralling energy bills and ill health – helping Londoners keep warm and well in a changing climate
•How climate change, ill health and fuel poverty are linked. •What it means for London
• How will it affect its most vulnerable residents
Introduction to Climate Change
The Last 10,000 Years• Stable, Warm, Reliable, Very little ice (comparatively) Result:
Why?
• Stability allows for people to plan• Agriculture can get started• People can settle down• Civilization can come into being
• Modern humans around for 150,000 years• No coincidence civilization only 10,000 years old
So you get why we don’t really want things to change that much
Introduction to Climate Change
Runaway Greenhouse Effect
• Meta-stable System
•Positive feedback, warming accelerates
Ice Melts
Less sunlight reflected back
into space
Air gets warmer
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200
5
10
15
20
25
30
Temperature (⁰C) and example of a metastable system Temperature ...
Stability
Stability
Instability
Introduction to Climate Change
Effects of Climate Change
Loss of predictability leading to:
• Famine• Drought• Sea Level Rise• Sever Weather increase• Poverty• Displaced People• Desertification• Ocean current diversion• Local cooling – NW Europe• Species Loss• War
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European Agriculture
Effects of Climate Change on the UK
• UK temperatures already risen by about one degree since the 1970s
• Flooding from heavy downpours
• Extremely wet winters could become up to five times more likely over the next 100 years
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European Agriculture
• Critical infrastructure in flood-risk areas could also be threatened • Drier warmer summers• Also matched with wider social + economic trends – aging
population• International impacts – food security
Effects of Climate Change on London
• Particularly sensitive to temperature increase – ‘heat island effect’
• Exposure to flooding
• One of the driest capital cities in the world
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European Agriculture
• Critical infrastructure in flood-risk areas could also be threatened
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that: “evidence is growing that climate change already contributes to the global burden of disease and premature deaths”
Health impacts of climate change
Extreme weather events• Heat waves - the European heat
wave in 2003 led to over 20 000 excess deaths in two weeks
• Floods - extensive flooding across the globe in the last few years led to increases in infectious diseases, respiratory symptoms and mental health problems
• Malnutrition - droughts and floods will have a devastating effect on already-scarce food supplies.
Health impacts of climate change
Infectious diseases
• Changing distribution of vector-borne diseases, particularly malaria and dengue, is predicted to be ‘very likely’ with rising temperatures
• Rodent-borne and water-borne diseases are also likely to increase
• Animal health will also be threatened - 60 cases of bluetongue virus were reported in the UK for the first time ever in 2007, partly as a result of weather conditions.
Health impacts of climate change
Respiratory disease and immune disorders
• Increasing levels of ozone at ground level could lead to a wide range of adverse respiratory conditions
• Changing levels of allergenic pollen are likely to lead to an increase in the incidence and intensity of allergic rhinitis.
Health impacts of climate change
Increasing exposure to UV radiationClimate change could slow the recovery of the ozone layer and increase exposure to UV radiation in the population, increasing the risks of skin cancer and the incidence of cataracts.
Population displacementHundreds of thousands of people could be displaced as a result of water scarcity and rising sea levels, with significant health impacts.
Health impacts of climate change
How would your communities be affected?
What the impact be on your beneficiary groups of:
• Weather extremes• Heat• Cold• Flood• Drought
• Food security
• Increases in commodity prices
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European Agriculture
What Can Your Organisation Do?
• Climate Change is a collective problem, it affects all communities though effects may differ• VCS Organisations are leaders, in touch with a wide ranging communities and best placed to affect change for the good
Actions:• Inspire and lead on climate change awareness• Pass on what you have learned to your members• Support your members to take action through signposting and advice• Promote the benefits environmental auditing
Thanks for listening!
Mike Webster, Operations Manager, London Community Resource Network
@LCRNNews
www.lcrn.org.uk
