Preparing for Changes

As a society we have been emitting greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels for over a century. As these gases trap heat from the sun within our atmosphere this is causing our climate to heat up.

	Prepare for hotter drier summers

Globally temperatures have risen by 0.6°C. In central parts of England we have seen them rise by almost 1°C. So we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and also to prepare for the changes that these temperature increases will bring over the next 50 years. Preparing for these changes is called climate change adaptation.

The climate system is very complicated with many different effects at work but our best climate scientists at the Met Office's Hadley Centre say that over the next half century we can expect:

• Hotter, drier summers
• Warmer, wetter winters
• More frequent extremes of temperature, rainfall and wind
• Reduced air quality and higher levels of ozone

You can view more detailed predictions of how temperature and rainfall will change at Oxfordshire County Council's page on Climate Change in Oxfordshire and also the likely impacts of these climatic changes.

These changes will mean that, in Oxford, we are likely to see more floods in winter, and heatwaves and droughts in the summer.

UK Climate Impacts Programme

The UK Climate Impacts Programme, based at Oxford University, has advice for individuals and householders on their website:

• Heatwaves page
• Flooding page

It also has pages on:

• Local Authorities
• Trade Associations and Professional Bodies
• Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
• Voluntary Organisations
• Organisations in the South East

For more information Contact:

Page last reviewed 20 Jun 2008