This weekend marks the anniversary of last year's tidal surge. This was the start of four months of extreme weather resulting in severe flood events which had a devastating impact across the country.
Flood waters caused millions of pounds of damage and in some cases destroyed homes, businesses and infrastructure. And the RSPB found itself on the frontline experiencing damage to some of our reserves but also in terms of the war of words that followed. People looked for someone to blame and lashed out at the Environment Agency, Natural England, the EU Nature Directives, the RSPB, birds and even a mollusc. In the furore that erupted, the intensity of rainfall and the implications of intensive land management in flood sensitive areas were, at times, overlooked.
Beyond the war of words that was played out through the media, the considerable personal loss, despair and emotional stress that many victims suffered were unquantifiable. In just six months, from December 2013 to March 2014, floods impacted on the east and south east coasts of England, East Anglia, the Thames Valley, Kent and South West England. Those further north did not escape: there was major flooding in Boston and around the Humber in Yorkshire, in North Wales and along the Welsh, Cumbrian and Scottish coasts.
The sad reality is that we will need to get used to these extreme weather events.
In response to these flood events, the Met Office said (here)
"This winter the UK has been affected very severely by an exceptional run of winter storms, culminating in serious coastal damage and widespread, persistent flooding. As yet, there is no definitive answer on the possible contribution of climate change to the recent storminess, rainfall amounts and the consequent flooding. This is in part due to the highly variable nature of UK weather and climate. Nevertheless, recent studies have suggested an increase in the intensity of Atlantic storms that take a more southerly track, typical of this winter's extreme weather. There is also an increasing body of evidence that shows that extreme daily rainfall rates are becoming more intense, and that the rate of increase is consistent with what is expected from the fundamental physics of a warming world."
The IPCC 5th assessment report found that extreme weather events are already increasing across the world as a result of global warming. In their report, they said "Changes in many extreme weather and climate events have been observed since about 1950. It is very likely that the number of cold days and nights has decreased and the number of warm days and nights has increased on the global scale. It is likely that the frequency of heat waves has increased in large parts of Europe, Asia and Australia. There are likely more land regions where the number of heavy precipitation events has increased than where it has decreased. The frequency or intensity of heavy precipitation events has likely increased in North America and Europe. In other continents, confidence in changes in heavy precipitation events is at most medium."
Of course, globally it makes sense to get to grips with greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the likelihood of increasing global temperatures. This is why I send my best wishes to all the climate change negotiators that have gathered in Lima this week. They have a year before a final deal - which we hope is fair, ambitious and legally binding - is due to be struck in Paris next year.
Yet, even with a good global deal, there remains the growing likelihood of more extreme weather events. It, therefore, makes sense to take stock and learn lessons from these flood events. With this in mind, we pulled together a series of essays and accounts from engineers, economists, conservationists, flood victims, academics, government advisers and farmers. Our report, "Flooding in Focus", ends with some recommendations for more effective flood management in England. I think that these should be brought together in a national plan for flood resilience.
You can find our report here.
Have a read and let me know what you think.
In the meantime, here's hoping for some calm weather for us all this week.
While we do have to take flooding seriously I think to quite a degree these days it is hyped up more and more by the media and we easily get it a bit out of focus. Clearly it is very distressing for those whose homes are flooded but we should not forget we had the 1947 floods,the 1952 Lynton/Lymouth flood disaster and the great storm surge along the East Coast in 1952/53. In many ways these floods were far worse, than the recent ones costing many lives.
It was interesting to read the RSPB report on the effects of the floods on nature in the Somerset Levels. The report showed that true wetland species and plants of mature grassland were very little affected.If there was some impact, on say worms, then they very soon recovered. The species that were badly affected were non wetland species that inhabit damp meadows such as owls and hares as well as crops and grassland just recently laid down.
Also it became clear that winter flooding has only very limited affect as demonstrated above, however summer flooding would have very significant impacts and be much more serious.
Over the past 250 years we've worked hard to speed the water off the land and create the environment for catastrophic flooding - and going back even further, I suspect very few people - even in RSPB - realise that we've lost more riverine woodland than any other woodland type - well over 90%. Current trials are reminding us how effective woodland is at slowing (inland) flood water. The problem is our land use priorities - we are still living in 1947 when there was only one priority, food production. But time shave changed - food and farming remain vitally important, but to see them, as current policy does, as overriding all other land use needs is suicidal, with the increasingly present risk of serious catastrophe. This Government ignored the 2007 floods - more dangerous than last winters - and cut the juicy, easy EA capital spend. The big question is what will it take to jolt us out of a complacency which looks increasingly like paralysis ?
And, yes I'm sorry about your hides, Martin - and I hope a lot more wash away in future because it is right that the land we should be giving up to slow and defend against the flood can and should also become the places we find more space for nature - and a few floating hides is a worthwhile exchange for the sort of superb habitat that intelligent and imaginative coastal retreat projects are starting to develop.