A campign from Project Solar UK shows how cities, such as London, could look as a direct result of climate change

A campaign has been launched by Project Solar UK to highlight the impact climate change could have on some of the UK’s major cities, with disturbing graphics showing how landmarks such as Liverpool’s Albert Dock and central London around Tower Bridge, could be destroyed.

The evidence for global warming is overwhelming and one of the most devastating results of this, according to scientists, will be rapid sea level rises.  Increased rainfall, rising sea levels, expected temperature rises and storm damage are a threat to coastal regions. The combination of factors could mean parts of coastal cities such as Liverpool could be underwater within a century leaving them as some of the most vulnerable cities in the UK.  If temperatures increase by 4°C from pre-industrial levels, the seas could rise by as much as 10.8 metres according to Climate Central, though world leaders are currently trying to keep temperatures below 2°C to try to contain the number of people who could lose their homes as a result of water levels rising.

The increased temperatures already being witnessed could also potentially have a devastating impact on the capital. Cities around the world including London face growing risks from drought driven by climate change, according to a report from Christian Aid (May 2022). London could run out of water within 25 years according to experts, the report warns, with a severe drought costing the capital’s economy £330 million a day. London already receives about half the amount of rain that falls in New York City, and climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of droughts in the region. With a growing population, this could put serious stress on the capital’s ageing water supply system, the report says. It also notes that without action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and curb the rising risk of climate-related drought, the poor will be worst hit.

In the wake of heatwaves hitting the UK, almost half (49%) of the more than 2,200 Britons polled for the report said they were now concerned about the impacts of drought on people in this country, but nearly two-thirds (64%) agree they have never seen information about how to protect themselves from it.

Advertisement

Understanding how to protect society from these dramatic climate changes is behind the new visual campaign from Project Solar UK who want to draw attention to the role solar energy can play. Simon Peat of Project Solar UK who have created the awareness campaign says, “We are drawing attention to climate change through this creative campaign in the hope we can raise awareness of what could happen if we don’t address the serious climate crisis.   Although at first glance the images may appear futuristic, the truth is that if as a society we don’t start to take active steps to address environmental issues, our port cities could be submerged by water and our capital could experience drought.”

As the UK’s largest retailer and installer of solar panels, the Project Solar UK team want to help explain how solar energy can help in the fight against global warming. Solar panels generate clean electricity, reduce pollution, and help to offset carbon footprints by avoiding burning fossil fuels. By switching to solar energy, using natural sunlight as the energy source, rather than oil, gas or coal, individuals can play a valuable part in cutting the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.

Continues Simon Peat, “Finding out more about how solar energy can help in the fight against climate change is a simple step that people can take. By getting to grips with how harnessing the natural energy source of the sun can be converted to energy through installing rooftop panels, people are arming themselves with the information to make informed choices that will help the environment.”

 

Advertisement