A “few” effects that climate change can have on Wales
Climate change has led to many new changes and government action but has it had an effect?
It is predicted that 1 in 14 species in Wales are being pushed to extinction and it is said by a report in 2016 that the ecosystems of Wales “may have fallen below the point at which they can meet society’s needs” , Wales climate continues to “have the worst air quality in the UK” causing 2000 deaths per year this is mostly due to the largely industrial nature of Wales economy when compared to the rest of the UK this will hopefully lead to cleaner alternatives being used.
It is expected that average winter temperatures are to increase by 2°C by 2050, an increase by 2.5° in summer this may lead to certain environments becoming dryer causing some habitats such as marshland to disappear further harming the biodiversity of Wales, an increase of average winter precipitation by 14%, a decrease in average summer precipitation by 17% this decrease in summer will lead to a lack of drinking water as most in Wales is on the surface this decrease will affect that causing more droughts and the increase in winter precipitation can lead to further flooding when the soil is cold and the water can not infiltrate through, sea level is expected to rise between 0.1m and 0.32m as most of the largest cities in Wales are on the coasts this has the potential to be destructive to homes and places of work.
It is predicted that tourism would increase in Wales but the erosion of beaches and coastline may hamper this prediction if not it will further increase Wales dependency on tourism improvement the economy, yields of crops and forests may increase with the increasing temperatures yet threats such as more pests and diseases will become more prevalent with the increasing temperatures soils may also be affected by wetter or dryer conditions such as damage and erosion affecting the biodiversity and landscape alongside the farming industry.
This ,to me, shows that climate change can have positives yet the negatives far outweigh any “bright side” there may be and action is needed to prevent further damage, petition, speak out to your representatives and make changes to your daily life that can help there are many sources online that can help, even something small can make a difference
https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-04/a-climate-change-risk-assessment-for-wales.pdf pages 7-11 inclusive
