Record-breaking weather further evidence of global warming say climate campaigners - The Stratford Observer

Record-breaking weather further evidence of global warming say climate campaigners

Stratford Editorial 6th Jun, 2020   0

CLIMATE campaigners in the West Midlands say record-breaking weather is further evidence of global warning.

The UK’s weather has hit some extreme and record-breaking highs and lows in the first part of the year. The flood warnings of February have given way to the driest May on record in England.

West Midlands Friends of the Earth say climate change is a crisis that cannot be allowed to be overshadowed by the Covid-19 crisis and still urgently needs government action.

Spokesman Chris Crean, said: “February feels like a distant memory for many reasons but it was the wettest one on record. The Environment Agency in England had almost 600 active flood warnings, a number that’s never been that high. Then May saw cracked and parched ground, crops wilting and rivers looking for all the world like they are in severe drought.




“There was only 4mm of rain in the entire south east England for the month. It’s not good enough to just try and enjoy the dry weather when it’s actively harming crops and records are being broken with alarming frequency.

“Climate breakdown fuelled by carbon emissions can only mean more extreme swings, making us go from floods and droughts in a few months, with all of the misery that both cause.


“As lockdown lightens decision makers need to see both crises, climate and virus, as having the same solution – invest in a green and fair recovery.”

Some of 2020’s record-breaking weather events include:

* May was the driest on record since 1896 in England, with less than 10mm of rainfall on average.

* Spring has been the sunniest since records began in 1929, beating the previous record of 555 hours.

* February 2020 was the wettest February in the UK, while the winter as a whole was the fifth wettest since records began in 1862.

* Winter saw the Environment Agency in England issued the most active flood warnings at one time.

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