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Climate change, saving wat how your green spaces can of a change for the bett
A look at the implications for climate resilient Grounds Maintenance p sustainably minded business
With a sweltering June and July, the UK has this year seen weather conditions that had journalists feverishly consulting Met Office records and looking back to the past record breaking summer of 1976. As lawns parched and tinder-dry moorlands burned, speculation invariably revolved around whether this was weather or evidence of a sustained shift: climate change. With the dreaded words “hosepipe ban” starting to be heard with ever greater frequency, the Environment Agency’s (EA) recently launched report “The State of the
Environment: Water Resources”, its first major report on water resources in England, suddenly seemed incredibly prescient. Arguing that “climate change and demand from a growing population are the biggest pressures on the availability of water”, the report warned that action would be needed to “increase supply, reduce demand and cut down on wastage”. Without action, areas such as the South East could by 2050 face major deficits. This situation is becoming serious and the EA has called for water companies,
consumers and businesses to do their bit to take on the challenge of unsustainable demand and wastage of water. Among recommendations made was a call for personal water targets to avoid water shortages to respond to both current water supplies and the real challenges of climate change and a growing population. Clearly, policy shifts towards reducing water consumption are likely and, as a result, it makes sense for those owning and managing green spaces to anticipate and plan for these eventualities and for the greater frequency of extreme weather. So, how will climate change impact
grounds maintenance? Summarising the likely impacts of
the UK’s changing climate the Royal Horticultural Society’s 2017 Report “Gardening in a Changing Climate” explains that even if the current legislative efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions prove successful, global temperatures may still rise by at least a further 1.5 to 2.0 degrees over the next 100 years, and the UK’s average temperatures in every season across each region is set to increase. High year on year variability in rainfall will continue and there will be an increased number of dry spells, which will be most pronounced in the south. The frequency of very wet days will
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