Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Related pages

• Sustainable Development
• Climate Change
• Climate Change Adaptation
• Climate Change Mitigation
• Facts, Figures and Resources

Climate Change

Climate change is a global challenge, with effects that do not respect international boundaries.  The Highways Agency recognises that alongside business and individuals, we all have an important part to play in minimising the causes and managing the risks associated with a changing climate.

For the UK, the key findings from  UK Climate Projections 2009 suggest how our climate might change:

• All areas of the UK get warmer, and the warming is greater in summer than in winter.
• There is little change in the amount of precipitation (rain, hail, snow etc) that falls annually, but it is likely that more of it will fall in the winter, with drier summers, for much of the UK.
• Sea levels rise, and are greater in the south of the UK than the north.

Across the globe, there will be more intense heat waves, droughts and more flooding. There may be severe problems for regions where people are particularly vulnerable to changes in the weather. Food shortages and the spread of disease are commonly predicted. The social, environmental and economic costs of climate change could be huge, as indicated in the Stern report on the economics of climate change:

We are addressing two distinct aspects: how we adapt to a changing climate and, how we reduce our contribution to the causes of climate change.

• Climate Change Adaptation
• Climate Change Mitigation