somerset floods and why is our weather getting worse Flashcards
causes of floods
series of depressions, low pressure were driven across Atlantic
350mm of rain fell in January and February 100mm more than average,
storm surges and high tides at coast.
rivers have not been dredged In 20 years
social effects
600 homes flooded
16 farms evacuated
residents evacuated in temporary homes
economic effects
somerset county council calculated £10 millions worth of damages.
1000 livestock evacuated
local roads cut off
environmental effects
huge amounts of debris
flood water mixed with sewage pollutants and chemicals
stagnated water that had been collected for months had to be re oxygenate before pumped back to rivers
immediate responses
villagers used boats to travel
homeowner did the best they can when flood water spread ed out
long term responses economic
£ 20 million flood action plan has been launched by somerset county who will work to reduce risks for next time
long term responses environmental
8 km of the river tone and Parratt were dredged to increase water capacities
road levels increase to maintain communications if a another flood occurs and so that businesses may run
weather systems in THE UK
they are driven by jet streams, in recent years these weather patterns have become stuck for a long time causing prolonged rain or high temperature
could be due to climate change
THE UK and atmospheric circulation
flooding may occur in normally dry places or heatwaves in cooler placer
energy
more energy, more rising air could lead to intense storms
what did the IPCC say in 2011
international panel for climate change says that extreme weather would be more common as global warming heats the planet
examples of extreme weather
Pakistan floods 2010
intense heatwaves Russia 2010
western USA droughts 2014
