Climate Change and New Nuclear - No2NuclearPower
Andy Blowers Last month I wrote in the wake of the heatwave which brought record temperatures for May. Now I’m writing in the middle of the June heatwave where again records have been broken as temperatures soar to 38°C and beyond. Over a broad area in the south of the country the Met Office has issued a rare red ‘extreme heat’ warning of very high temperatures and humidity bringing heat stress and ‘risk to life for even the healthy population’. … read more »
Andy Blowers Last month I wrote in the wake of the heatwave which brought record temperatures for May. Now I’m writing in the middle of the June heatwave where again records have been broken as temperatures soar to 38°C and beyond. Over a broad area in the south of the country the Met Office has issued a rare red ‘extreme heat’ warning of very high temperatures and humidity bringing heat stress and ‘risk to life for even the healthy population’. We seem woefully unprepared for what is becoming the new normal. Serious adaptation is required as the UK’s ‘infrastructure is built for a climate that no longer exists’. As various ‘tipping points’ are passed the impacts on people and environments will become irreversible. Sea-level rise is already unstoppable and will irrevocably change environments. Here, in the Blackwater estuary there will be destruction of saltmarshes, widespread flooding and inundation of agricultural and urban areas beyond. Until recently there was a broad political consensus on the need to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Now, the strenuous efforts by successive governments to achieve net zero by 2050 are being undermined by short-term political gestures such as opening up North Sea oilfields which does nothing for either energy or environmental security. At the same time, nuclear energy is being consecrated as the answer to climate change and energy self-sufficiency. But, its high cost and long time scales, let alone the wastes and risks it brings, make it no solution at all. And in France closing nuclear power stations during a heatwave has become a routine response. What drilling in the North Sea and building a few nuclear power stations does do is divert attention and resources from the pressing and fundamental need to press ahead with the energy transition as fast as we can. Meanwhile it is only a matter of time before impacts will become intolerable. We shall have to ensure we can adapt and survive. BANNG 13th July 2026read more »Share