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Climate change and flooding: the impact on the Devon coast

  • by JW

With flooding happening more and more around the country, a report has just come out, putting the south Devon coastal town of Dawlish at the top – as covered very well by the Exe Radio news:

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Dawlish ‘to be most impacted by climate change’

It’s likely to see more frequent storms and floods

Dawlish has been named on a list of areas that will be most impacted by climate change by 2040.

New research also shows that over half of Britons still don’t believe we are in a state of climate emergency, despite the many concerns raised by experts.

It also suggests one in twenty Brits don’t think climate change has, or will, impact the UK.

A green coalition – made up of Friends of the Earth, Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace, Woodland Trust and The Daily Mirror – has identified regional hotspots across the UK that will be most impacted by climate change by 2040:

  1. Dawlish, Devon – extreme storms
  2. Saddleworth Moor – wildfires
  3. Happsiburgh, Norfolk and Birling Gap, East Sussex – coastal erosion
  4. Wayoh Resevoir, Bolton – droughts
  5. Nenthead, Cumbria – extreme snow blizzards

Dr Emily Grossman, scientist and TV presenter, said: “Dawlish is just one of possibly hundreds of areas of the UK that will continue to be impacted by climate change, and will see more and more frequent storms, floods and damage to the local environment.

 

Dawlish ‘to be most impacted by climate change’ | Radio Exe

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It’s getting quite dramatic:

South Devon Railway sea wall – Wikipedia

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Meanwhile, we need to do something more with our coastal defences here in Sidmouth:

Beach Management Plan: the costs of over-engineering

Beach Management Plan meeting: August press release

Beach Management Plan: safety first