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Climate newsletter |
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Issue 76 | 25 September 2024 |
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As the climate we live in changes, there is an ever-growing need for climate information to aid resilience, adaptation and mitigation planning both in the UK and globally.
The Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme (MOHCCP) stands at the forefront of global climate science, providing crucial research which informs both national and international climate policies. This month we have been exploring the pivotal role the Climate Programme plays in providing climate evidence to numerous UK government departments as well as its broader benefits to society.
The Climate Programme is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and managed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. The Climate Programme delivers immediate impact and value through development of the UK core climate science capability (through modelling, data and infrastructure). It also delivers scientific knowledge and expertise to meet UK government evidence needs to support the UK and global climate community in understanding and responding to climate challenges.
Each Climate Programme builds on the success of previous programmes, with research carried out in collaboration with leading research institutions and universities, both in the UK and internationally.
Insights from our research is critical for planning and building climate-resilient infrastructure, essential for maintaining public safety and economic stability for key industries such as agriculture, insurance and energy, by providing the data needed to manage climate risks effectively. This not only protects jobs and livelihoods but builds a more resilient and sustainable future for all, ensuring the UK can continue to thrive in a changing climate.
In a new blog post, we introduce Professor Rowan Sutton, our new Director of the Met Office Hadley Centre, in which he writes about his first month here at the Met Office reflects and shares his ambitions for the role.
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The ever-growing urgency to act ahead of weather and climate disasters to effectively build long-term climate resilience requires long-term commitments and partnerships worldwide, and needs-driven, action-focused research.
The UK has long-standing Programming focused on the adaptation and resilience agenda. As an example of active Programming that draws on the Climate Programme, the CLimate Adaptation and Resilience programme (CLARE).
A UK-Canada framework research programme is a key partnership designed, funded and run by the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), that is responding to the urgent need for climate solutions and resilience.
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Extreme weather events have severe impacts on society and ecosystems in our current climate and pose an increasing threat as our climate changes. Met Office Hadley Centre scientists have pioneered work in attribution science, which looks at whether climate change is responsible for extreme weather events, and to what extent.
Professor Peter Stott MBE, Climate Science Fellow was the first to link an individual weather event to climate change (2003 European heatwave) and is seen as a pioneer in developing event attribution, making a substantial contribution to the scientific case that human activities are causing climate change.
Peter was delighted to appear on BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Life Scientific’ earlier this month. In this blog, he writes about this recent interview and reflects on his career so far.
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In our latest episode of Climate Conversations, hear from climate scientist Lottie Woods about how UK Climate Projections have been used to explore future climate conditions at UK sporting events. Underpinning work on the UK Climate Projections is carried out as part of the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme and helps to build a richer picture of the future climate.
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This week (23 – 29 September), we’re supporting Scotland’s Climate week. It’s a chance to celebrate climate action, and to learn more about tackling climate change by sharing ‘Stories for Change’.
Share your story using #ScotClimateWeek to help spark new ideas and inspire others to act.
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On 18 September, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published the latest United in Science report. This indicates that greenhouse gas concentrations are at record level.
“We need urgent and ambitious action now to support sustainable development, climate action and disaster risk reduction. The decisions we make today could be the difference between a future breakdown or a breakthrough to a better world,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
On 17 September, Foreign Secretary David Lammy delivered a lecture at Kew Gardens in which he made it clear that action on climate, stating that “there will be no global stability without climate stability”.
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On 17 September, we published a blog post which explored why May 2024 was the warmest on record for UK mean temperature, despite many people not having that perception due to a wet and dull month for many. In new analysis, Met Office scientists have looked at what caused such anomalously high temperatures for May, and the results go some way in explaining why people’s perceptions may not align.
Chief Scientist Professor Stephen Belcher recently participated in a discussion on the BBC News programme ‘AI decoded’ which focussed on the application of AI in weather and climate prediction.
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In October, we are launching our beta* Local Authority Climate Service (LACS), providing Local Authorities with crucial information on climate change in their local area. This will support decision-making, empowering Local Authorities to increase resilience to a changing climate and meet a commitment set out in the third National Adaptation Programme.
The Local Authority Climate Service, supported by Defra, is built using geospatial technology from Esri UK and is part of the Met Office Climate Data Portal.
In the accompanying launch webinar taking place on Wednesday 9 October, we will be explaining the background to the service and providing details of how this can be used to build awareness of climate change affecting your local area, aid decision-making and be integrated with the Local Partnerships Adaptation Toolkit.
*The LACS will be fully available for use following the webinar, but as we learn more about user requirements, we will be inviting feedback to help drive improvements.
Local Authorities can register now via: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/1bde0210-5d53-4195-83ad-c3fee70e2d27@17f18161-20d7-4746-87fd-50fe3e3b6619
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Follow us on social media channels to join the conversation. Look our for our hashtag - #GetClimateReady - on X (formerly Twitter), and follow our climate channels on TikTok and Instagram.
You might also be interested in our new Government and Industry Newsletters. Subscribe here.
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