Latest estimations have shown all of the areas of the North East and North Yorkshire that could be underwater by 2030 – as a recent study by the Met Office has revealed that sea levels are rising much faster than a century ago.
The State of the Climate report, which came out earlier this week, has highlighted the separate parts of the North East that could be underwater, as well as citing that higher temperatures are the new normal for Britain.
By assessing climate and weather events for 2021, including extreme events like Storm Arwen that caused destructive flooding in County Durham, Northumberland, and parts of North Yorkshire, the Met Office has been able to pinpoint those locations most at risk.
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According to their estimations and working alongside the Climate Central ‘underwater’ map, areas such as Middlesbrough, Redcar, Seaton Carew, and Hartlepool in Teesside could be wiped out, while Whitby and Sleights in North Yorkshire could also face difficulty.
As expected, most of the places that could be affected are coastal – but other areas like Chester-le-Street, Lamesley, Blyth, and some parts of Newcastle could be in danger.
All the areas that could be in danger of becoming underwater:
- Wylam
- Newburn
- Stella
- Metrocentre
- Lamesley
- South Shields
- North Shields
- Blyth
- Seaburn
- Chester-le-Street
- Hartlepool
- Middlesbrough
- Seaton Carew
- Redcar
- Coatham
- Yarm
- Whitby
- Sleights
- Ruswarp
According to the report, conservationists warn that spring is coming earlier, and that plant and animal life is not evolving quickly enough to adapt to climate change.
The report highlights again the ways climate change is affecting the UK.
Sea levels have risen by around 16.5cm (6.5 ins) since 1900, but the Met Office says the rate of rise is increasing. They are now rising by 3-5.2mm a year, which is more than double the rate of increase in the early part of last century.
Extreme sea levels during Storm Arwen last November were only avoided because it hit during a lower than usual tide, according to Dr Svetlana Jevrejeva from the National Oceanographic Centre.
"The scale, rate and impact will change, and it will change dramatically quite soon," she told the BBC.
Long-term trends show sea levels are rising more quickly and the number of air and ground frosts has declined, and the number of days homes need heating in winter has fallen by 11% in the last decade compared to 1961-1990.
And the number of summer days where temperatures are above thresholds where homes could need cooling has increased from 14 days for 1961-1990 to 25 days in the past decade for England.
Prof Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said: “The report is very clear that we are seeing a change in our climate, whether that’s temperature, precipitation, sea level rise, if you look over the timescale of the whole series of those different phenomena.
“If we compare the last year to the recent climate, so the last few decades, it isn’t that remarkable, it’s quite normal now to see these temperatures.
“But if you look back over the whole series, 2021 and the recent climate is very remarkable.”
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