Britain’s National Trust on Wednesday said nature and wildlife in the charity’s areas had been harmed by extreme weather in the past year and warned it could become the new normal.
The heritage protection charity’s climate change adviser Keith Jones said it was a stark illustration of the sort of tribulations many of our species will face if we don’t do more to mitigate rising temperatures.
Moving to experience more floods, droughts, heat waves, extreme storms, and wildfires — and they will go from bad to worse, smashing records with ever-alarming frequency if we don’t limit our carbon emissions, he said.
The planet remains off track from an ambition set by the Paris climate accord in 2015 to restrict warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) beyond pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
A cascade of severe weather exacerbated by climate change devastated communities across the globe this year including sweltering heat and drought across Europe that withered crops, drove forest fires, and saw major rivers shrink to a trickle.
The understanding said high temperatures, drought, and back-to-back storms have created major challenges for nature.
In its annual study, it described such conditions as the new normal.
It said this year was a stark example of the difficulties many UK species could face without more action to tackle climate change.
The hot summer and months of low rain dried up rivers, fragile chalk creeks and ponds, destroyed crops and natural habitats, and fuelled wildfires that destroyed landscapes, the charity said.
Wildfires on National Trust ground scorched areas such as Zennor Head, Cornwall, Bolberry Down in south Devon, Baggy Point in north Devon, and Studland in Dorset, demolishing houses of species including rare sand lizards.
The National Trust has issued a warning that the harsh weather experienced in the UK in 2022 may have established a standard for future years’ average weather.
High temperatures, a lack of, and back-to-back storms, according to the organization have presented significant difficulties for nature.
It directed these situations as the new normal in its annual evaluation.
It claimed that this year served as a stark example of the challenges that many UK species would experience if more isn’t done to combat climate change.
The dry summer and months with little rain damaged farms, and natural habitat dried up rivers and soft chalk streams and ponds and fueled wildfires that razed entire landscapes, according to the organization.
Sites including Zennor Head in Cornwall, Bolberry Down in south Devon, Baggy Point in north Devon, and Studland in Dorset were burned by wildfires on National Trust land, destroying the homes of several species, including rare sand lizards.
The dry condition affected natterjack toads, whose shallow ponds for breeding dried up, and the bats had been rescued in the heatwave.
Trees produced last winter to store carbon and boost woodland habitat were hit by the shortage and extreme heat, with 50% of saplings lost on gifts such as Wimpole in Cambridgeshire and Buscot and Coleshill in Oxfordshire.
In distinction, the calm, dry spring weather resulted in a few success stories, especially for this year’s apple harvest due to the lack of late frosts and blossoms lasting on the trees for longer.
Many parts of the UK have seen plenty of seeds and nuts such as acorns, beech masts, rowan berries, and elderberries including the east of England, North and Northern Ireland.
This phenomenon, known as a mast year, usually happens every four to five years, but this year has been unusual, with trees fruiting earlier than normal.
The National Trust’s circumstances change adviser, Keith Jones, said there was no escaping how challenging this year’s weather had been for nature.
Drought, high temperatures, back-to-back storms, unseasonal heat, the recent cold snap, and floods mean nature, like us, is including to cope with a new litany of weather extremes, he said.
He added climate experts were predicting the future would see more torrential downpours, along with dry and hot summers.
Alongside the temperature extremes this year, wild birds were also hit by avian flu, with thousands of seabirds passing in colonies on the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland, where they had produced to breed.
The National Trust said saving work to improve habitats was helping make the environment and species more resilient to the changes brought by rising temperatures.
