Britain’s hospitals, schools and homes need to be fitted with air conditioning ahead of expected rises in global heating, the government’s climate advisers have said. With temperatures forecast to exceed 40C in all parts of the UK by 2050, a new report from the Climate Change Committee warns that the country is “built for a climate that no longer exists today and will be increasingly distant in years to come”.
What else is in the report? Of the many climate threats examined, “extreme heat is certainly the most deadly” and requires the “need to see cooling rolled out at scale”, said Julia King, chair of the CCC’s adaptation subcommittee. The report recommends that air conditioning be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years. And exams should take place at cooler times of year.
The advisers also say the government should set a maximum temperature for working indoors and outdoors, as do a range of other countries. In Spain, the maximum legal working temperature indoors is 27C for sedentary work and 25C for light physical work. The report warns that failure to take the necessary steps to protect people from overheating could cause deaths from heat-related illnesses to rise to 10,000 a year by 2050.
Global warming will also lead to more erratic rainfall, flash flooding and droughts. Seven million UK properties are currently at risk of flooding; that could rise by 40% by 2050 unless action is taken. Sea levels will rise too, threatening coastal areas, and higher temperatures would put domestic food production under threat.
How much would the changes cost? The advisers estimate that their recommendations would cost roughly £11 billion per year, split between the public and private sectors. But every £1 spent would yield about £5 in benefits, according to the committee.
Inaction could have a political cost. The government risks “stoking support” for populist politicians if it doesn’t step up efforts to adapt to hotter temperatures, according to Sam Alvis, from the left-leaning IPPR think tank. “When increasingly severe and frequent climate impacts strike, populists are quick to exploit public anger over a lack of preparation, using it to advance their own agenda and weaken support for climate action more broadly,” he told The Times.
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