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The UK is already experiencing serious climate impacts, including floods, storms, heatwaves and droughts. The 2015-16 winter floods alone cost the UK an estimated £1.6bn, and summer 2022 saw temperatures exceed 40C for the first time, resulting in the highest number of UK deaths from heat extremes.
The number of people who recognise that climate change is happening ‘here and now’ has steadily risen.
But despite more and more extreme weather events taking place, a sense of disconnection remains in the UK: heatwaves continue to be represented in the media as positive occurrences, and the government’s advisers on adapting to climate change have repeatedly warned that the country is poorly prepared for the increased risks from floods, extreme heat, and storms.
Few will have failed to notice global changes in extreme weather: floods wreaking destruction in Pakistan and North Africa; unprecedented wildfires in Canada.
But are opinions keeping pace with a rapidly changing climate?
Climate Outreach, in collaboration with Cardiff University, have published a briefing containing seven recommendations for public engagement on climate risks and adaptation, including the insight that communication on adaptation shouldn’t be divorced from messages on mitigation. The distinction is not widely recognised beyond the climate community: concerns about mitigation and adaptation reinforce each other and are perceived as two sides of the same coin
Cardiff University survey data shows an increase in risk perceptions around hot and dry weather from 2013 to 2019.
In 2013 only 23% of respondents thought heatwaves were a fairly or very serious problem. By 2019 this had increased substantially to 72% – although concern flooding is still greater.
Flooding was considered a fairly or very serious problem by almost all survey respondents (90%), closely followed by coastal erosion (88%), heavy storms (84%) and periods of heavy rainfall (83%).
The authors note that the “increase in perceptions of heat risks might be partly explained by personal experiences of heat related events (such as discomfort due to hot weather) – in the current survey 70% reported having this experience – as well as media coverage of recent heat-related events in the UK and worldwide.”
The Environment Agency report how low income households are particularly vulnerable to flood risks, and may struggle with impacts:
“Worryingly, low income households are eight times more likely to live in tidal floodplains than more affluent households, but 61% of low-income renters do not have home contents insurance, meaning they’re more susceptible to a financial shock as a result. According to data from insurance company Aviva, most low-income renters would struggle to meet typical insurable losses with nearly three quarters (73%) unable to meet an unexpected bill of £500 without help.”
This concerning analysis also highlights the risk of substantial, long-term impacts to people’s mental health due to flooding:
“Experiencing damage caused by extreme weather such as storms or flooding can increase the chance of facing mental health problems such as stress and depression by 50% while a quarter of people who have been flooded still live with these issues at least two years after the event.”
In a report that offers a critical evaluation of the Heatwave Plan for England, survey data shows that most people – including those who are most vulnerable – don’t tend to see themselves as being at risk from heat. The authors write:
Most people had positive views of hot weather, and for many it was something they looked forward to as it invoked feelings of good health and well-being. In addition, most adults did not feel that hot weather posed a risk to themselves. As a result, protective measures were often not taken, even those that people felt were effective, such as staying out of the heat and in the shade.
Only 40% of participants aged 75 or older saw themselves personally at risk of hot weather. According to many of those interviewed, risk was associated with physical and mental frailty, not age itself, and there was some resistance, even resentment, to any ‘vulnerable’ label that may be applied to them in this context, as they did not consider themselves ‘frail’.
An article by Petra Tschakert and colleagues synthesises the depth and breadth of tangible and intangible losses that people around the world may experience as a result of climate change. Key takeaways include:
