07/03/2005 - Climate change
is widely recognised as the most significant
environmental challenge facing society this
century delegates at the Welsh Conservative
Party Annual Conference in Cardiff were told
at the weekend (Saturday 5 March).
"The 11000’s was the warmest decade
in the warmest century of the last millennium
and the planet may never have warmed as fast
as it has in the last 25 years. It is now
generally accepted that gases emitted from
burning coal and other fossil fuels are the
most likely reason for the past 25 years of
warming" said John Mosedale, Flood Defence
Manager with Environment Agency Wales who
was speaking at a fringe meeting organised
by the Agency at the conference.
"We have to expect changing weather
patterns and more extreme events. We have
seen problems from floods, droughts and heatwaves
around the globe - these will get worse and
become more frequent. The Agency’s responsibilities
include managing flood risk and we are in
the front line of dealing with the major impacts
of climate change.
"Here in Wales the flooding in the Conwy
Valley of North Wales in January has made
us more aware of the wider issues. We have
to accept flooding risk increases and we need
to invest more, to warn existing households
and stop building in flood plains. The Agency
considers the impact of climatic change when
building flood defences and is continuing
to improve its flood warning system.
"Ensuring energy efficiency and reducing
the use of fossil fuels is now a main requirement
in our regulation of industry. Significant
reductions in emissions from large industrial
processes regulated by the Agency mean that
industry is now a relatively small contributor
to total air emissions of many pollutants.
"Road traffic emissions are the main
reason for 92% of the designated air quality
‘hotspots’ in Wales and better controls on
transport, particularly road vehicles, will
be needed to meet air quality targets in the
future.
"But there are many things we all can
do to make a difference such as turning off
lights, turning down central heating thermostats,
using public transport, car sharing and walking
whenever possible."
