How climate change, ill health and fuel poverty are linked. What it means for London and How will it affect its most vulnerable residents.

1. Spiralling energy bills and ill health –
helping Londoners keep warm and well in a
changing climate
•How climate change, ill health and fuel
poverty are linked.
•What it means for London
• How will it affect its most vulnerable
residents

2. Introduction to Climate Change
The Last 10,000 Years
• Stable, Warm, Reliable, Very little ice (comparatively)
Result:

3. Why?
• Stability allows for people to plan
• Agriculture can get started
• People can settle down
• Civilization can come into being
• Modern humans around for
150,000 years
• No coincidence civilization only
10,000 years old
So you get why we don’t really want
things to change that much
Introduction to Climate Change

4. Runaway Greenhouse Effect
• Meta-stable System
•Positive feedback, warming accelerates
Ice Melts
Less sunlight
reflected back
into space
Air gets
warmer
0
10
20
30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Temperature (⁰C) and example of a
metastable system Temperature…
Stability
Stability
Instability
Introduction to Climate Change

5. Effects of Climate Change
Loss of predictability
leading to:
• Famine
• Drought
• Sea Level Rise
• Sever Weather increase
• Poverty
• Displaced People
• Desertification
• Ocean current diversion
• Local cooling – NW
Europe
• Species Loss
• War
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European
Agriculture

6. Effects of Climate Change on the UK
• UK temperatures already risen
by about one degree since the
1970s
• Flooding from heavy
downpours
• Extremely wet winters could
become up to five times more
likely over the next 100 years
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European
Agriculture
• Critical infrastructure in flood-risk areas could also be threatened
• Drier warmer summers
• Also matched with wider social + economic trends – aging population
• International impacts – food security

7. Effects of Climate Change on London
• Particularly sensitive to
temperature increase – ‘heat
island effect’
• Exposure to flooding
• One of the driest capital cities
in the world
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European
Agriculture
• Critical infrastructure in flood-risk areas could also be threatened

8. The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) concluded
that:
“evidence is growing that
climate change already
contributes to the global burden
of disease and premature
deaths”
Health impacts of climate change

9. Extreme weather events
• Heat waves - the European heat
wave in 2003 led to over 20 000
excess deaths in two weeks
• Floods - extensive flooding across
the globe in the last few years led
to increases in infectious
diseases, respiratory symptoms
and mental health problems
• Malnutrition - droughts and
floods will have a devastating
effect on already-scarce food
supplies.
Health impacts of climate change

10. Infectious diseases
• Changing distribution of vector-
borne diseases, particularly
malaria and dengue, is predicted
to be ‘very likely’ with rising
temperatures
• Rodent-borne and water-borne
diseases are also likely to
increase
• Animal health will also be
threatened - 60 cases of
bluetongue virus were reported in
the UK for the first time ever in
2007, partly as a result of
weather conditions.
Health impacts of climate change

11. Respiratory disease and immune
disorders
• Increasing levels of ozone at
ground level could lead to a wide
range of adverse respiratory
conditions
• Changing levels of allergenic
pollen are likely to lead to an
increase in the incidence and
intensity of allergic rhinitis.
Health impacts of climate change

12. Increasing exposure to UV
radiation
Climate change could slow the
recovery of the ozone layer and
increase exposure to UV radiation
in the population, increasing the
risks of skin cancer and the
incidence of cataracts.
Population displacement
Hundreds of thousands of people
could be displaced as a result of
water scarcity and rising sea levels,
with significant health impacts.
Health impacts of climate change

13. How would your communities be affected?
What the impact be on your
beneficiary groups of:
• Weather extremes
• Heat
• Cold
• Flood
• Drought
• Food security
• Increases in commodity prices
Effects of Predicted Climate Change on European
Agriculture

14. What Can Your Organisation Do?
• Climate Change is a collective problem, it affects all communities though
effects may differ
• VCS Organisations are leaders, in touch with a wide ranging
communities and best placed to affect change for the good
Actions:
• Inspire and lead on climate change awareness
• Pass on what you have learned to your members
• Support your members to take action through signposting and advice
• Promote the benefits environmental auditing

15. Thanks for listening!
Mike Webster, Operations Manager, London
Community Resource Network
mike@lcrn.org.uk
@LCRNNews
www.lcrn.org.uk