UK already undergoing disruptive climate change
The UK is already undergoing disruptive climate change with increased rainfall, sunshine and temperatures, according to scientists.
The year 2020 was the third warmest, fifth wettest and eighth sunniest on record, scientists said in the latest UK State of the Climate report.
No other year is in the top 10 on all three criteria.
The experts said that, in the space of 30 years, the UK has become 0.9C warmer and 6% wetter.
The report's lead author Mike Kendon, climate information scientist at the UK Met Office, told BBC News: “A lot of people think climate change is in the future – but this proves the climate is already changing here in the UK.
“As it continues to warm we are going to see more and more extreme weather such as heatwaves and floods.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-e...6EWBxY0rYXqMCo
Leaves are appearing on trees earlier in response to the changing climate
The State of the Climate report also indicates that plants are responding to the changes in climate. Leaves appeared on average 10.4 days earlier than the 1999-2019 baseline for a range of common shrub and tree species.
Meanwhile, a new paper from the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, founded by the former UK chief scientist Prof Sir David King, asks whether rapid heating in the Arctic region is driving changes in the jet stream in a way that influenced the recent weather extremes.
The jet stream is a core of strong winds travelling west to east about five to seven miles above the Earth.
The new paper said: "We are simultaneously witnessing weather disaster in Germany, the highest temperatures for June in Finland and the US, the catastrophic heatwave in British Columbia, and extreme heat in Siberia.
"These are all outlier events that exceed what one would expect if it were 'only' a 1.2C warming impact (that's the amount the Earth has already warmed since pre-industrial times).
"Greenhouse gas levels are already too high for a manageable future for humanity."
The paper, which has not been peer-reviewed, urges governments to start removing greenhouse gases at scale from the atmosphere.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-e...6EWBxY0rYXqMCo
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