Impact of Climate Change on the UK
The chosen country for this paper is United Kingdom. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the different scenario regarding the climate change in this country. The climate change has led to many impacts in this world. The different sectors will be in deep problem indeed. United Kingdom is a country in Europe so the general climate is obviously like the other countries in Europe. There have been many protests and controversies about the climate in the country like UK. The climate committee in the country has developed many important policies and frameworks that will be effective to cope up with the changing climate factors. The greenhouse gas emissions have been very important in the modern context. It is estimated by European Union that the emission rates should be reduced to a moderate level so the environment can be saved from the decay. The technical possibilities will have to be increased properly as well. The UK Government will look to decrease the carbon emissions because it is very much harmful for the health of the common people. The carbon emission levels will have to be reduced to a greater level by the end of 2050. As of 2080, they should eye for coping up with more environmental problems on the whole.
It has been reported that the carbon emission have been around 35% in the year 1994 and it rose up to 67% in the year 2004. One of the major reasons for this is the transport facilities. Some sectors have been affected by the climate changes very badly. These are the power and energy, transport, land transport, agriculture and other things. The Government bodies and their experts are trying their best to cope up with the degradation in the environment. It has been noted that the entire world is taking the actions to combat the climate change indeed. As the carbon prices will likely to rise, the cost of restricting those gases will increase as well. This is why it is extremely important to begin the process from here on. There are some important things that have to be taken care of in the coming years. As the year 2080 is to be projected, some major steps should be taken according to some variables.
The mean air temperature will change in the entire country as a result of the global warming. The mean temperature in winter can be estimated up to 2 and 3 degrees. The changes will be maximum in the South East and minor changes will take place in the North West zone in the country. The mean air temperature in the sea areas will feel its greatest impact indeed. The emission rates will be higher than ever during that time. The climate changes will be major in the southern regions and minor in the northern regions as well. This will happen because of the proximity of the open seas and oceans in the south. The natural variability in the climate is very huge. There will be changes in precipitation as well in UK as well. It can be expected by 2080 that the climate will become wetter indeed. The rates of precipitation can grow up from 10% to 30%. The precipitation will increase in the higher regions for different reasons. It is also expected that the summer seasons will become drier indeed. A southern to northern gradient will be there and the decrease can be found in South West of England up to 40%. However, the annual precipitation levels will not change that much indeed. This will be an important factor in the climate change.
Impact of Climate Change on the Energy Sector
The entire natural environment will feel to be in a great crisis because of the climate change effects. The climate changes have led a huge impact on the natural systems in many countries. It has been noted that the changes in the precipitation rates of the melting and snow and ice have left an indelible mark indeed. It has affected the resources of water in many countries; the hydrological activities are hampered as well. The seasonal activities in UK will be hampered as well. Some important issues that can be taken in consideration are the geographic issues, patterns in migration process, interactions between different species and many other things. These things indeed are very important because the climate change can be very fatal for some creatures and the geographic factors. The impact will be negative on various factors like the seasonal crops in UK. Agriculture will suffer a lot indeed. The sector that should be focused in this paper is energy. The energy sector and energy supply will be discussed by focusing on the climate change. It has been reported that United Kingdom is not all prepared properly for the changes in climate. The impacts are long term so the climate change effects will be discussed on the basis of long-term effects as well. It has been noted that the temperature of the earth’s surface will be heated up because of the global warming effects.
The natural climate change is overshadowed by the human climate change indeed. These things are very much important to combat with. Some human activities are destroying the nature completely like the burning of the fossil fuels completely. The trees are being cut down so the natural balance is lost. The greenhouse gases are increasing so the heat is getting trapped in the atmosphere. These are the reasons as to why the energy is not being manufactured properly indeed. The carbon emission is very much a troublesome thing in the modern natural context. It has been observed that around 40% carbon emission in UK is caused by the individuals. This is why the energy consumed at home; driving and air travel would be very much important for the worsening of the climate. The climate change effect is destroying the balance of the nature. The average temperature of UK has already risen. This is why the experts are planning some way out to stop this evil indeed.
The general temperature in UK will rise to the maximum towards the 2080s. United Kingdom will get hotter with each passing year. It is likely that the cold winters in the country will become rare indeed. The frequency of rain will change as well. It is also suggested that drought can also occur in many areas as well. The climate change will put up a huge cloud of uncertainty in the country. The risks are big in the energy sector as well. The solar energy resource in UK will also be put under jeopardy as well. However at the present time the solar energy in UK is providing the resources for the heat energy and electricity generation as well. The solar energy is getting cheaper by the rates indeed. It has been experimented that the energy resources in the south of UK will likely to be increased indeed. The price of gas and electricity will rise up as well. The government will have to provide some resources for the consumption of energy.
Mitigation Strategies for the Energy Sector
Energy is one of the core aspects or elements of the economic and social activity of a country. This is why the manufacturing of energy should be treated with much importance indeed. Energy is a very essential element for the fulfilling all the industrial and commercial usage. If the climate changes, it will provide a deep impact on the providing of the energy as well. The production and consumption of energy will have much impact on the environment. The impact of climate change on precipitation indicates that the production of hydropower will be increased by around 5%. It is also expected that the decreased rate of precipitation will have a negative impact on the cooling procedure in the thermal power plants.
It is, therefore, very important to address the risks and the ways of mitigating the risks properly. Some important factors can be seen in this issue. These are the climate is changing continuously, the main reason behind this change is the activity of the people, there are several serious impacts of this climate change on society and some important policies should be formulated as per the climate change risk management. It has been found from the research that the carbon emission is one of the most important reasons for this climate change. If this emission rate is cut down, the society will be benefitted from many angles as well. If the society cannot cope up with this change, some mitigation policies should be taken indeed. Some important risks have been identified. As the concerned sector in this paper is the energy sector, the ways of mitigation will have to be found according to that only. The energy sector is the largest sector in producing the GHG emissions. This is why the impacts of climate change is higher on this sector than the other ones. The global target of 2°C for global warming that was agreed unanimously should be met by this sector. There are some good options that could result in the mitigation of this problem indeed. The substantial mitigation can be met in this process as well. However, there is a considerable range of risks as well. One of the most wanted ways is the de-carbonization of the energy sector. At the end of 2080, United Kingdom will look to eradicate the chances of the carbon emission that will lead to the heating of the country in great many ways. They will need to implement some of the technologies that will lead to the absorbance of CO2. There are other options as well.
Conclusion
At first, the fossil fuel extraction and conversion will have to be decreased. This will lead to the emission to be lowered. After that, the companies in energy sector will look to switch to fuels that do not contain much carbon. An example can also be given like the switching can be made from coal to gas. Another way of mitigation is energy efficiency will have to be improved in many ways for transmission and distribution. Other than that, the new technologies related to renewable energy will have to be increased. The nuclear energy will have to be increased as well. The new technology of carbon capture and storage (CCS) will have to be introduced and utilized as well. The CCS plants will have to be extended that will use the bio energy crops (BECCS). This might be a successful way of achieving the ‘negative emissions’.
The final energy demand will have to be reduced as well. These are the most important reasons of achieving the mitigation for the climate change impacts on the energy sector. The renewable energy sources have a deep impact on the climate change. This will probably reduce the GHG emissions in the environment. This will be highly beneficial for the environment as a whole. It is a huge matter that renewable energy (RE) supplies almost one fifth of the electric supply. Hydropower is one of the largest resources of renewable energy. Other than that some other RE sources are solar, wind and bio energy. Re will go on to substitute the current resources for power supply around the 2080 in UK. RE technologies will need to have some direct support from the government like the RE quota obligations, feed-in tariffs and other things. Geothermal resources will look to be the major suppliers for the renewable energies. This will also mitigate the risks for the climate change impacts. Thus these policies will help to bring out the best outcomes.
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