Will Summer just get hotter?
Euan Burton
Will Our Summers Just Get Hotter?
Hotter summers have always been a desire for almost everyone in the UK, especially the Scottish. So when Global Warming is brought up in conversation, many in Scotland find the idea of more BBQs and inflatable pools alluring, saying: “I’m fine with more sun” or “Sounds good to me!”. This is said jokingly, but comments like those ones are indicative of the underlying attitude to global warming in Scotland. People know its potential severity but are also confident that it won’t affect us too badly. This is wrong, very wrong. In fact, just like everywhere else on Earth, the ramifications of Global Warming are powerful and rapidly approaching.
Global Warming isn’t some distant threat on the horizon, it has already arrived and started to influence the UK. Global Warming leads to extreme weather such as torrential rain, heatwaves, hurricanes and flash floods becoming increasingly common; wreaking havoc on the UK’s landscape. Flooding is dangerous, causing drowning, destruction of infrastructure and major disruption of important services. A recent and local example is of Lorraine Cassidy, and her infant daughter, who were forced into homelessness after their home in Drumchapel became flooded after torrential downpours. The Met Office predict that, due to Global Warming, these types of flooding related incidents will only increase. The number of lives lost across the UK to flooding is already massive, and cannot afford to grow any larger. In England alone, from 2019 to 2020, there have been over 400 injured in flooding incidents, with 111 resulting in death. Flooding is merely one of the many extreme types of weather that may become commonplace in the UK. During heatwaves many people choose to sit out in the garden, eat an ice lolly and relax, not everyone has that luxury. In 2019, it is estimated that across the UK, around 900 people died due to heatwaves. Heatwaves are only likely to grow more intense and more frequent, potentially causing related deaths to increase massively. Hurricanes can tear down houses in seconds and torrential rain can ruin farmland. It will be an incredibly grim future for us all if Global Warming permanently alters the UK’s weather. We will all pay the price.
The effect of Global Warming doesn’t just kill humans. In fact, relatively speaking, humans get off lightly. Ecosystems are complex, composed of millions of organisms, ranging from woodlouse to whales. Ecosystems are contrived and fragile, removing certain species or introducing new ones can have disastrous effects. If the UK mean temperature rises, certain processes and cycles will be thrown out of balance, starting too late or too early. Entire species will have to move north to escape rising temperatures. Lochs could become acidified. Animals that can’t easily move will be left without habitats. Every day the number of species jeopardised by Global Warming grows. This puts entire ecosystems at risk, stripping Scotland’s wilderness of its beautiful flora and fauna. Not only are our native species at risk, but changing the climate of Scotland allows for non-native species (that couldn’t have survived in Scotland before) to prosper in Scotland. Once established these species can explode in population, due to having no natural predator or diseases to rein them in, using up resources and wiping out Scotland’s native animals and plants. These invasive species are incredibly destructive, and if we continue on our current trajectory they will only become more and more prevalent and dominant.
It isn’t just living things that are on the line, the history and culture of the UK are also potential victims of Global Warming. Rising sea levels are a problem to many countries. Due to Scotland’s geography however, we are at slightly less risk. This doesn’t apply to all of the UK - areas such as the north of Wales and the East of England are likely to be afflicted by the increase in sea levels. It is predicted that many historic UK landmarks and attractions such as the White Cliffs of Dover, Ben Nevis (not the mountain, but the area surrounding it) and many more, could be submerged or tarnished. This irreversible destruction of some of the most iconic and famed places in Britain creeps closer every day due to Global Warming melting ice and expanding the water in the ocean.
The effects of Global Warming on Scotland and the UK as a whole are nothing to be scoffed at. Our culture could be damaged, our wildlife could be eradicated and our day-to-day lives could be drastically altered. Of course, there is still time to change this. Recycling, renewable energy sources and planting trees can all slow down and even reverse the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Scotland is one of the countries at the forefront of this war against Global Warming, with 97.4% of its energy use coming from renewable sources as of 2020, and with a goal for net-zero carbon emissions by 2045, Scotland’s ecological future is looking a bit more hopeful.