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Oxfam Case Study: Flooding in the UK
How climate change affects the UK
In early 2014, more than 5,000 properties and thousands of hectares of farmland across
England and Wales were flooded during the wettest winter since records began in 1776.
Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, drought and floods are happening more
frequently and becoming more severe. The UK Meteorological Office has said that there could
be a link between the record rainfall and climate change, and has called for more research.
Flooding affects poorer people more than richer people because, for example, their homes
and possessions are less likely to be insured.
Farmers in the UK have warned that the changing weather patterns could bring new
challenges for growing and producing food. Rising temperatures and changes in rainfall
patterns are forcing farmers to change the crops they grow. As well as affecting the production
and quality of crops, these extreme weather events can also damage or destroy systems for
transporting and distributing food. This in turn affects the supply and availability of food – and
also food prices. Soon climate change may affect what all of us eat.
Many other species and habitats are also at risk. For example, bees are important pollinators
for many plant species. In the UK, bees pollinate more than £1 billion worth of crops each
year. Climate change is thought to be one of the key reasons for declines in the numbers of
bees and other pollinators. Increasingly unpredictable rain patterns, longer dry spells and
rising temperatures are affecting the growth of flowers, which in turn affect the amount of
nectar available for the bees. Climate change is also causing shifts in the bees’ habitats, but
the bees may not always be able to move with them.
Liz’s story
Liz is a farmer on a small holding on the Somerset Levels in southern England. As a result of
excessive rainfall in December 2013 and January 2014, huge areas of the land were flooded.
Liz had to sell her poultry, sheep and pigs early in advance of the floods, because she knew
that there wouldn’t be the space to look after them. Liz and her family also faced several
evacuation orders from their home. They had to move their furniture and other possessions to
the first floor of their house to protect them from water damage. Homes and farms in her area
were under water for over two months. There are approximately 94 homes in Liz’s village and
only 15 were not flooded.
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Liz sits outside her house on top of
sandbags placed to protect her home.
© Credit: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam
Although it is not unusual for the Somerset Levels to flood, the winter flooding of 2013–14 was
exceptionally bad. Liz has joined a local cluster group set up after the floods, whose Chair is
on the Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG). These cluster groups are working to
ensure that local voices are heard for the government’s future flood protection plans.
Liz said: ‘We have to accept that the climate has changed. We’re getting wetter, warmer
winters; we’re getting extreme weather that we’ve never got before.
‘The devastation of all the houses with the water lapping around them and the people gone
and children’s toys floating away. I was just overwhelmed. I’ve never seen anything like it. It
has made me feel very insecure. It’s very easy to say it’s a devastating effect but it really does
cloud the rest of your life that these things are out of your control.
‘I think it’s very important for people to get together, to all be singing from the same hymn
sheet, raising their voices saying we want people that can act to listen.’
Oxfam – campaigning against climate change
Thousands of people took
part in the People’s March
for Climate, Justice and
Jobs in London in
November 2015.
Credit: © Brendan
Foster/Oxfam
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Funded by the UK government
Oxfam is challenging world leaders to take more ambitious action against climate change –
campaigning for a fair and binding global deal – and is demanding action to:
●
reduce emissions
●
enable vulnerable countries and communities to adapt to climate change with an
international climate fund
●
push for a global move towards low-carbon economies.
Oxfam is also a member of the Climate Coalition, which is made up of over 100 organisations.
These include environment and development charities, unions, faith organisations and
communities, and women’s groups. The Climate Coalition’s For the Love of... campaign aims
to get young people and adults involved in tackling climate change, for example by contacting
their MPs. The campaign asks all citizens, including young people, to make clear to their MPs
and the government that people care about climate change and the impacts it is having.
Glossary
Pollinator
Something that pollinates or fertilises a flower. Once a flower is
pollinated, it can grow seeds such as the fruits and grains
humans eat.
Small holding
Land used for farming that is much smaller than a typical farm.
Adapt to climate change
Take practical steps to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Low-carbon economies
An economy based on sources of energy that use little carbon,
so they release minimal greenhouse gases into the
environment.
UK country information
GDP per person:
$46,297
Population:
64,559,000
Total CO2 emissions:
428,000,000 tonnes
CO2 emissions per person:
6.7 tonnes
Data sources: World Bank Data (2014): data.worldbank.org/, Global Carbon Atlas (2014);
www.globalcarbonatlas.org/
Links: Find out more about Oxfam’s work on climate change:
www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/issues-we-work-on/climate-change
www.theclimatecoalition.org/
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Funded by the UK government