Floods (Story & Video)
Hi Larry,
As you read this email, vast swathes of the UK are underwater. Buckling from the strain of torrential rains, rivers have overflowed and flood defences have been breached. Hundreds of families have been forced to evacuate their homes [1].
David Cameron has pledged to help people suffering in the wake of the destruction. That’s a start. But in the aftermath of such ferocious storms, we need to make sure he joins the dots to climate change.
More fossil fuels means a warmer climate. And the latest science tells us that rising global temperatures are fuelling volatile, erratic weather [2]. We need to tell the prime minister that if he’s serious about protecting the UK from flooding, he must accelerate the roll out of clean power, not burn more fossil fuels.
Sign the petition:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/floods
Many of us have been shocked at the damage triggered by Storm Desmond. 60,000 homes were plunged into darkness after floods knocked-out power supplies. In Honister, Cumbria, weather stations recorded the highest ever levels of rain to fall in the UK over a 24 hour period [3]. And in Kendal, where people were inundated with water when the local river burst, Greenpeace supporter Jo told us: "It's heartbreaking here. You see it on the news but you don't realise how bad it is."
At the same time that the UK is being bombarded by record breaking weather, government leaders are gathered in Paris for UN talks on climate change. Whatever the outcome of the Paris summit, the last few days have given us a stark vision of the future we could face -- a future where ‘once in a lifetime’ storms take place several times in a generation.
The decisions that David Cameron takes next will be felt far beyond the day when floodwaters have cleared. As well as plugging the gap in funds to flooding defences, he needs to tackle the root cause of increasingly extreme weather -- and that means scaling up plans to tackle climate change by throwing his weight behind renewable energy. Add your name to make sure he does:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/floods
While the UK recovers from Storm Desmond, many communities around the world lack the infrastructure and resources to cope when extreme weather hits. In Chennai, India, powerful rains - the worst in a hundred years - have left 300 people dead and more than 1.8 million displaced [4].
As climate change begins to kicks in, it’s clear just how vulnerable we are. All of us -- from communities who’ve been forced to evacuate their homes in Cumbria, to people fleeing flooding in India, and everyone else in between -- we must demand decisive action on the causes of global warming.
With all my thanks,
Richard
NOTES
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/12035856/Storm-Desmond-Aerial-footage-shows-extent-of-flooding-damage-in-Cumbria.html
2. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/12/typhoon-haiyan-climate-change-blame-philippines
3. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/12036868/Storm-Desmond-by-numbers.html
4. http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/india/poorest-hit-hardest-by-south-india-floods-69690/
As you read this email, vast swathes of the UK are underwater. Buckling from the strain of torrential rains, rivers have overflowed and flood defences have been breached. Hundreds of families have been forced to evacuate their homes [1].
David Cameron has pledged to help people suffering in the wake of the destruction. That’s a start. But in the aftermath of such ferocious storms, we need to make sure he joins the dots to climate change.
More fossil fuels means a warmer climate. And the latest science tells us that rising global temperatures are fuelling volatile, erratic weather [2]. We need to tell the prime minister that if he’s serious about protecting the UK from flooding, he must accelerate the roll out of clean power, not burn more fossil fuels.
Sign the petition:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/floods
Many of us have been shocked at the damage triggered by Storm Desmond. 60,000 homes were plunged into darkness after floods knocked-out power supplies. In Honister, Cumbria, weather stations recorded the highest ever levels of rain to fall in the UK over a 24 hour period [3]. And in Kendal, where people were inundated with water when the local river burst, Greenpeace supporter Jo told us: "It's heartbreaking here. You see it on the news but you don't realise how bad it is."
At the same time that the UK is being bombarded by record breaking weather, government leaders are gathered in Paris for UN talks on climate change. Whatever the outcome of the Paris summit, the last few days have given us a stark vision of the future we could face -- a future where ‘once in a lifetime’ storms take place several times in a generation.
The decisions that David Cameron takes next will be felt far beyond the day when floodwaters have cleared. As well as plugging the gap in funds to flooding defences, he needs to tackle the root cause of increasingly extreme weather -- and that means scaling up plans to tackle climate change by throwing his weight behind renewable energy. Add your name to make sure he does:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/floods
While the UK recovers from Storm Desmond, many communities around the world lack the infrastructure and resources to cope when extreme weather hits. In Chennai, India, powerful rains - the worst in a hundred years - have left 300 people dead and more than 1.8 million displaced [4].
As climate change begins to kicks in, it’s clear just how vulnerable we are. All of us -- from communities who’ve been forced to evacuate their homes in Cumbria, to people fleeing flooding in India, and everyone else in between -- we must demand decisive action on the causes of global warming.
With all my thanks,
Richard
NOTES
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/12035856/Storm-Desmond-Aerial-footage-shows-extent-of-flooding-damage-in-Cumbria.html
2. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/12/typhoon-haiyan-climate-change-blame-philippines
3. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/12036868/Storm-Desmond-by-numbers.html
4. http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/india/poorest-hit-hardest-by-south-india-floods-69690/
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