Author of influential 2006 report on the economics of climate change says wettest and hottest years on record mean world must take action now or face disaster

Nicholas Stern
The Guardian, Thursday 13 February 2014 13.42 EST

Satellite image shows scale of storm that hit the UK. Photograph: Neodass/University of Dundee/PA
The record rainfall and storm surges that have brought flooding across the UK is a clear sign that we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change.
Although many commentators have suggested that we are suffering from unprecedented extreme weather, there are powerful grounds for arguing that this is part of a trend.
Four of the five wettest years recorded in the UK have occurred from the year 2000 onwards. Over that same period, we have also had the seven warmest years.
That is not a coincidence. There is an increasing body of evidence that extreme daily rainfall rates are becoming more intense, in line with what is expected from fundamental physics, as the Met Office pointed out earlier this week. A warmer atmosphere holds more water. Add to this the increase in sea level, particularly along the English Channel, which is making storm surges bigger, and it is clear why the risk of flooding in the UK is rising.
…(read more).
Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics
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