It’s a long time since we had any global warming panic (not counting the marketing campaign behind The Day After Tomorrow of course). So Londonist was pleased to see this report (PDF File), released today, which claims that “London could face summers as hot as New York and as dry as Israel by the end of this century”.
The report from the Energy Saving Commission entitled Forecasting The Future warns that “Heat could reach crisis proportions in London…and the death rate could soar in severe heatwaves increasing the demand for air conditioning.”
But it’s not just the air conditioning businesses who should worry: “Its position on the edge of the Thames estuary makes London highly exposed to sea-level rises, with some £100 billion worth of land and property at risk.”
The report has been produced as part of Energy Efficient Week, however we can’t go into too much detail about that because when we tried to access the information page this morning we got an error page (maybe they’ve turned off the servers to save electricity).
Meanwhile in related, but paradoxical, news, it’s been found that Britain has more chance than ever of a white Christmas this year.
Richard Wild, director of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation has studied 140 years worth of winter weather and come to the conclusion that “heavy and prolonged blizzards are increasing decade on decade”.
So our advice is: bet your life savings on a white Christmas this year and then spend the winnings on a new house on high ground, as far away from the Thames as possible.
