Global heating hits home

Andy Atkins, CEO of A Rocha UK, looks at a new report on the impact of global heating on our homes.

February’s unusually intense rainfall – 141% of the month’s average rainfall had fallen by mid month – has led to widespread flooding.  This has damaged thousands of homes and caused trauma and loss to tens of thousands of people. The new Minister of the Environment George Eustace blamed climate change.  It looks like global heating is hitting home and homes.

Tragically, there is more to come in the years ahead, and potentially the weeks and months ahead too. A new study, published in February, points to a range of emerging threats to UK homes from global heating, but it also gives hope. Written by scientists from The Climate Coalition, of which A Rocha UK is a member, Home Truths, draws on the latest data from the UK’s leading climate research centres. You can download it here.  

The report warns not just of increased surface and river flooding, but coastal flooding too as sea levels rise. Average sea levels around Britain have already ... Read more...

Watching whilst the world burns

A Rocha UK’s Head of Conservation, Andy Lester writes about the recent Australian wildfires.

For those of you who have been watching the news since November 2019, you will no doubt have been moved and deeply saddened by the tragic pictures from Australia.  Perhaps most telling of all was the shocking image of a kangaroo that had tried to escape the flames and found itself against a fence, where it perished. Then of course there were some more heart-warming images, such as the koala bear sharing a bucket of water with a pet dog who immediately fell in love with the furry friend and began licking it.

Whether horrific or heart-warming, the images tell a story of catastrophic destruction never witnessed before in Australia on this scale. Since 10 November 2019, an area the size of England south of a line from Blackpool to Bridlington has been burnt to the ground. Scientists estimate that upwards of one BILLION mammals, birds and reptiles have perished. Some species may have been wiped out completely. The population of the iconic koala has fallen to its lowest level ever.  As of January 2020 the koala is ‘functionally extinct’, meaning that the ... Read more...