This is definitely climate progress. Next up: urban rickshaws to reduce emissions?
From a Newcastle University press release:
Growth versus global warming
A three-year project led by Newcastle University for the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research has outlined how our major cities must respond if they are to continue to grow in the face of climate change.
Using the new UK Climate Predictions ’09 data for weather patterns over the next century, the research looks at the impact of predicted rises in temperature – particularly in urban areas – increased flooding in winter and less water availability in summer.
The report “How can cities grow whilst reducing emissions and vulnerability” focuses on the particular challenges facing London but can be used as a model for other UK cities on how policy-makers, businesses and the public must work together to prepare for climate change.
As well as protecting our homes and buildings against the increased threat of flooding from rising sea levels, the report emphasizes the need to reduce our carbon emissions, reduce our water usage and move towards cleaner, greener transport.
Newcastle University’s Dr Richard Dawson, one of the report’s authors, said: “There’s not one simple solution to this problem. Instead we need a portfolio of measures that work together to minimize the impact of climate change while allowing for our cities to grow.
“Most importantly we have to cut our carbon dioxide emissions but at the same time we need to prepare for the extremes of weather – heat waves, droughts and flooding – which we are already starting to experience.
“The difficulty is balancing one risk against another while allowing for the expected population and employment growth and that is what our work attempts to address.”
Led by Newcastle University’s Professor Jim Hall, the project is the result of three years’ work to decide how our cities should respond to the threats of climate change.
Promoting the development of cycleways and public transport, low-carbon energy and water recycling it also shows how solving one problem can exacerbate another.
Dr Dawson explains: “Heat waves like the ones being predicted to occur more frequently in future are extremely serious, particularly for the eldest members of our population.
“To combat the problem we often resort to switching on the air conditioning. This is not only energy intensive (and therefore has potential to raise carbon dioxide emissions that drive climate change) but works by cooling the inside of the building and expelling hot air outside, raising the overall air temperature in the city as well.
“This can amplify what is known as the ‘urban heat island’.”
To reduce this problem, the authors show that one option might be to stimulate growth along the Thames flood plain as the water helps to keep the overall temperature lower.
“The problem then is that you are building in the flood plain so you have to prepare for a whole different set of challenges,” explains Dr Dawson. “Houses built on stilts, flood resilient wiring where the sockets and wires are raised above flood level, and water resistant building materials are going to have to be incorporated into our building plans.
“Good planning is the key – we have shown that land use planning influences how much people travel and how they heat and cool their buildings, and hence the carbon dioxide emissions.
“Land use also determines how vulnerable people will be to the impacts of climate change. Our research enables policy makers to explore these many issues on the basis of evidence about the possible future changes and to analyse the effectiveness of a range of innovative responses, so they can better understand and prepare for climate change.”
The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council.
crosspatch (22:19:19) :
“So what do we do about the global stupidity problem?”
That is a very good question; given that the latest computer models prove, beyond all reasonable doubt, that less than half of the world population have a level of intelligence that is above the median.
Ozzie John (23:00:34)
No, it is not timber and thatch. They are made from recycled, and fully biodegradable, milk bottles and plastic bags.
There was a time when the UK produced scientists and engineers of the calibre of Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Maxwell, Brunel, Telford, Arkwright, Wedgwood etc etc. Nowadays we produce pseudo-science as exemplified by UKCP09 and engineering solutions that have have been used by primitve peoples for thousands of years, such as houses on stilts. It makes you want to weep.
Why not build just a little way up the nearest hill? Pathetic.
I remember stilt houses from my history classes about lake villages in the stone age or there abouts, nothing new there then as our ancestors were quite bright despite what our educated elite would have us believe, that now we’em got ‘puters we know everytin! All British governments have allowed local authorities to build on flood planes without any consideration for the risk of flooding for donkeys years!
As to Dr Dawson, me thinks he is a mere whipper-snapper & has forgotten or doesn’t know of the drought & heatwave of ’76? (followed by the almighty rains from October to December that followed, after Drought Minister Howells said it would have to rain from “here to Christmas” to put things right), & the flooding of the Thames basin of the late 1940’s, of which ’47 I believe was the worst, prompting a large expediture of dosh to put into place flood defences. England has always flooded & had heatwaves, they are unpredictable, & unusual, but we don’t oftern have them, (they were even mentioned in an episode of “Cadfael” once around the Gloucester area, nothing new then, that would have been in the middle of the MWP that didn’t exist). Hang on, heavy rains that caused severe flooding in the Thames basin in mid 1940s, a drought that caused terrific water shortages throughout the UK in mid 1970s, that’s almost 30 years difference between extremes, I wonder if there’s a cycle emerging! Oh & of course the unusually cold winter a couple of years further back when Devon & Cornwall were cut off for about 48 hours, must be AGW I spect! Of course we seem to have forgotten that the Thames Barrier was built because London & the South-East of England are sinking due to recovery from the ice-age & Scotland is rising accordingly.
Forgot to add, there was also a heatwave in ’74 too as we were permitted to slightly slacken our school ties for comfort during the June examination time!
As a British taxpayer I object to funding such utter claptrap but can do nothing about it. Our Conservative opposition is trying to outgreen Labour and as you can imagine the LibDems are greener than GreenPeace and Friends of the Earth combined. So expect even more alarmist rubbish for at least until we are all suffering from hyperthermia as our power stations begin to fail.
There’s a more pressing reason why many UK houses might have to be built on stilts and it’s nothing to so with alarmist predictions for rising sea levels. Here is a slice of potentially catastrophic idiocy, this time courtesy of the carbon sequestration lobby.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6868896.ece
Like millions of people I live in a bungalow, which means that all the rooms in my home are situated on the ground floor, I’ll be very interested to see what sort of by-law they’ll pass to cover that. They’ll probably insist I pitch a tent on the roof. Some wag suggested putting my house on stilts. Why the hell should I have to contemplate such a thing in order to accommodate some warmist moron planting a high pressure asphyxiation bomb under my home in response to a problem that doesn’t exist?
Madness!
LoL… They can’t even fantasize about the impact of rising sea levels without getting it wrong…. In a protected water way like that, it would simply be landfilled and reclaimed…. and why would they be wooden huts?
Anyway they are out of touch with reality. The sea level rise is only going to be the same as the last two centuries…. 1.8mm per year… 18cm per century.
…. Grass huts on stilts indeed… pffft.
On the up side, you wouldn’t have to mow the lawn 😉 Parking your plug in car might be a little tough though.
Sea Level Budget over 2003–2008: A Reevaluation from GRACE Space Gravimetry, Satellite Altimetry and Argo by Cazenave et al. 2008
http://sciences.blogs.liberation.fr/home/files/Cazenave_et_al_GPC_2008.pdf
“The steric sea level estimated from the difference between altimetric (total) sea level and ocean mass displays increase over 2003-2006 and decrease since 2006. On average over the 5 year period (2003-2008), the steric contribution has been small (on the order of 0.3+/-0.15 mm/yr), confirming recent Argo results (this study and Willis et al., 2008).”
As one who grew up in New Hampshire, I am well aware of the history of how cities like NYC and Boston were built of wood originally: by clear cutting our state by 90%. If we go to these idiotic stilt wood houses, you will see massive deforestation of the northeastern forests again, eliminating part of the carbon sink that is the north american forests (protip: the forests of north america absorb more CO2 than our industry emits but the IPCC, Kyoto Treaty, and all the eurotrash won’t let us count that against our emissions.)
People will look back on projections with the same feelings we have about these futures that never happened:
http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2008/01/will-war-drive-civilization-underground.html
http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2008/12/tomorrows-kitchen-1943.html
Solar cars a consistent fantasy:
http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2008/12/everymans-folding-auto-1939.html
Its funny to see references to a world blessed with eugenics:
http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2008/07/family-plane-of-2030-ad-1930.html
My favorite, this one about controlling the weather. Another fantasy that will not go away:
http://paleo-future.blogspot.com/2008/11/weather-made-to-order-1954.html
The big problem in England is that planning regulations allow the building of massive housing and business developments on flood plains. Millions now live and work in flood prone areas, where concrete and tar-macadam now considerably increase the impact of flash floods.
The longer term problem is that the most populous area of England the South-East is actually sinking into the sea, due to isostasis, the bounce back in the north and west from the last Ice-Age.
Hey Ozzie John.
When I first came to live in Oz from the UK in the mid seventies I lived in Brisbane and all the old colonial houses were bilt on piles/stilts. I thought it strange at the time, but back in those days people appreciated the power of nature and prepared for it. It’s called common sense … unfortunately it’s sadly lacking in our politicians today,
They don’t really let first cousins marry in Britain, do they?
CPT. Charles (21:57:41) :
The same thought went through my mind.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/04/02/dutch-floating-homes-by-duravermeer/
Perfect for the River Thames flood plain.
http://www.floodsite.net/html/pilot_site_thames.htm
The extent to which silly research can be funded if it’s just remotely tied to “climate change” is mind-boggling, but I guess it can’t be just any kind of climate change – research for the use of igloos in Cornwall during a possible new ice age probably wouldn’t get any funding?
The really worrying thing, is that the British government is manifestly insane and is likely to incorporate something like that in next years building regs. Every couple of years they tack on more regulations, mostly to do with reducing carbon footprints.
All new buildings will have to have a risk assessment for flood plains and the ground floor must be of sufficient height above the worst IPCC scenario. All bedrooms will have to be upstairs to minimize the risk of drowning whilst asleep, and lifeboats will have to be mounted on the roof. Each bedroom must have a ready means of access to the lifeboats, either through the ceiling into the loft or via a flood escape stairway on the exterior. Life jackets must also be stowed under beds and these will be checked when the annual home environmental inspections are carried out each year to ensure they meet stringent new energy standards.
So the researchers were looking at conditions over the next century and their proposed remedies include recycling dishwater.
These people have completely no idea of the pace of technological change. In another 30 years, let alone 100, we probably won’t need water to clean the dishes — if we have dishes at all.
And stilts? If the Dutch can keep back the ocean with 20th century technology I’m pretty sure out future generations will come up with something better than bloody stilts.
“DaveF (00:18:22) :
This article contains, yet again, the sort of statement that should not go unchallenged:
” …Dr. Richard Dawson, one of the reports authors said…..we need to prepare for the extremes of weather – heat waves, droughts and flooding – which we are already starting to experience.”
Where?”
In computer simulations, movies, MSM, in the minds of the dim and, more dangerously, our “leaders”. Scary sheet!!
“Purakanui (02:23:33) :
Why not build just a little way up the nearest hill? Pathetic.”
Kia ora. How id the snow on Mt Ruhapeu? I read that north of Taupo was “snowed out” recently.
Rob:
“. use thus kind of garbage to justify raising my insurance rates…..”
This is true! One of the leading alarmist “scientists” in Germany, Rahmstorf is sponsored by the company Münchner Rück, a large reinsurance company
Personally I think we should be more cautios. Did you all see “Waterworld” with Kevin Kostner?
Let’s devlop large floats. And everyone should have a large boat at home, even if he lives 1000km away from the coastline
“Alan the Brit (02:27:10) :
Forgot to add, there was also a heatwave in ‘74 too as we were permitted to slightly slacken our school ties for comfort during the June examination time!”
I don’t recall that, ’76, yes, indeedy. But I do recall the “70’s”, in the UK, were, how can say, sunny in summer, almost always. Winter, was cold/frosty, blue dome days.
OT and as a matter of interest, in 1972 I was at the Biggin Hill (UK) airshow and I watched a flyby of a Vulcan (Look it up, awsome aircraft), and recently started chatting, on another forum, with the pilot who throttled up and destryed my ear drums that day.
The graph at Tokyoboy’s link is interesting and puts a nice perspective on satellite era measurements and worrying about trends based on such short time-scales.
But the picture is precious. That city in the back-ground must have hundreds of thousands in it, but they’re trying to suggest we should consider putting an apparently small number of people in houses on stilts to reduce air-conditioning needs in cities. Hilarious!