Britain to Deal with Flooding Risks and Water Shortages

Climate change will trigger long-term damaging effects, different for every region, according to a recent study issued by the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research. The organization tried to forecast how 24 would be affected by global warming by 2100, unless governments find appropriate, effective ways of curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

It seems that one countries' curse is another nations' hope, since Spain might become extremely arid while India could be significantly affected by devastating floods, the Independent reports.

The entire Egyptian population might have to deal with water shortages. The same study highlights that if the current path is preserved, British farming communities wouldn't experience major losses.

At the same time, France could have a hard time preserving the balance of the food security system, since environmental conditions would be significantly different, defying the hard work and financial investments delivered by local farmers.

This is the first study aiming to anticipate the different effects of climate change applied on such a large scale. Their interpretation of 21 computer models of the global climate clearly indicates the increased amount of greenhouse gas emissions is responsible for some interesting changes.

For example, increased temperatures are likely to make up to 96% of the UK's cropland appropriate for agricultural practices, by the end of this century.

Meanwhile, only 4% of the total land destined to be exploited by agriculture will become more suitable in France, while other 55% of the surfaces is expected to become less reliable for this line of business.

While taking into consideration “water stress” as a main element climate change will bring along in the near future, the same study highlights that the lifestyle of 24% of the entire British population will be considerably affected by water shortages, while only 14% of the people in France will experience the same problem.

After analyzing the flooding risk, researchers are now able to say the UK faces a 72% risk and France only a 9% chance of having its balance disrupted by this kind of natural phenomena.