National Trust launches ‘game-changing’ climate change warning map

LONDON (CU)_The National Trust of UK has launched a “game changing” new map which lays out the threat climate change may have on the country’s heritage and countryside sites.

As Europe’s largest conservation charity, the organisation warns that many of its sites are facing threats of extreme heat, flooding and coastal erosion which could rise from 5 per cent to 17 per cent over the next 40 years, if nothing is done to bring down global carbon emissions.

The map highlights potential future hazards faced by the coastline, woodlands, countryside and hundreds of historic buildings across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

According to the map, a third of National Trust sites in the south-east of England will experience at least 15 days above 30°C a year, while flooding, storm damage and landslides will become common in the north of England and Wales. Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, coastal erosion and flooding will increase, thereby leading to more landslides in many locations.

“This map is a game-changer in how we face the threat climate change poses to the places we care for,” National Trust director for land and nature Harry Bowell said.

“While the data draws on a worst-case scenario, the map paints a stark picture of what we have to prepare for. But by acting now, and working with nature, we can adapt to many of these risks.”

The charity says that interventions such as restoring peat bogs to prevent flooding, and planting trees to provide shade for areas with high temperatures, can be followed to reduce the hazards.

The National Trust has already begun taking action to cope with rising temperatures. Some of these measures include the cultivation of heat-tolerant plants at Lam House in London, development of a shelter at Mount Stewart to withstand rising sea levels which have contributed to coastal erosion, as well as the planting of trees at Lyme Park in Cheshire, to reduce risks of flooding and at Malham Tarn, to manage the water table where an 18^th-Century barn collapsed due to soil shrinkage.

The charity says that it intends to plant 20 million trees before 2030, adding that the new map will ensure trees are planted where they are needed the most.