By Dr Sharon George, Course Director for MSc Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology, at Keele University. This article first appeared as a Personally Speaking column in the Stoke Sentinel in September 2023.

For September, it is hot. This week we are seeing high temperatures, reaching 28°C on Saturday, leaving many of us asking if this is normal, or is it the result of climate change. 

At our Keele University weather station we have recorded an average high of just over 17°C for
the month of September between 1991 and 2020. These are averages that include hot spells, which we can experience in September, but the average over time is steadily drifting up, and these unusual weather spells, becoming less unusual. This is climate change, and it is caused by our effect on the layer of gases that form an atmospheric 'greenhouse'.

The greenhouse effect is one of several natural systems that have – until recently – worked in balance, keeping our climate stable. A blanket of gases and particles that trap heat, keeping the planet warm. Without this effect, the average surface temperature would be around -18C. Carbon dioxide, one of the major greenhouse gases, enters the atmosphere naturally from volcanoes and natural wildfires. Another gas, methane, escapes from underground sources and rotting vegetation. This carbon source gets absorbed again into ‘sinks’, for example, vegetation and oceans. Fossil fuels are natural, long-term stores of carbon, but by burning them we have been unlocking it, increasing the potency of the greenhouse layer, and destabilising our climate.

The role of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas was discovered in the late 19th century. But it was not taken seriously as a risk until the late 1980s, and even once this was realised, we have been slow to directly attribute storms, wildfires and heatwaves to climate change, as they are, after all, natural phenomenon. That has recently been changing as the direct link between the carbon emissions we produce and climate change is becoming more obvious with events happening more often, with more intensity and impacting more people, with deadly consequences.

We saw this recently with the relentless and intense heatwaves across Central and Southern
Europe in July. These record-breaking conditions dry the ground and vegetation, leaving perfect
conditions for the spread of devastating wildfires, which we saw this summer in Greece when
the biggest blaze recorded in Europe raged for weeks, costing 20 lives.

This is likely to happen again as temperatures climb. If global warming reaches 2C, the chance
of a being exposed to a heatwave every five years increases toalmost 40 per cent. Rainfall patterns are also affected by climate change. A warmer atmosphere can also hold more moisture, resulting in more extreme rainfall that raises flood risks.

As temperatures are pushed higher, with every 1C, the air can hold an extra 7 per cent water. This drives more rainfall and storms, and increases the likelihood of flash flooding, especially if the ground has been baked hard, or concreted in an urban environment.

Extreme flooding is not only damaging to infrastructure and property, as we saw in the tragic,
sudden flood event in Germany and Belgium in 2021 that claimed 222 lives.

It is clear that climate change has started to impact us, and we are likely to experience more intense events that stretch our ability to produce food, prevent fires, protect wildlife and live
safely. The good news is that in the UK work is being done to manage risks and impacts.

Academics at Keele University in the Institute of Sustainable Futures use the campus as a 'Living Laboratory' to research and demonstrate ways to build resilient places and communities. Research teams made up of researchers with different skills, are working with businesses, and local authority leaders to design solutions and ways to reduce risks from climate change. For example, urban spaces get even hotter in heatwaves, and the role of green walls, and urban trees is important to reduce heat, and to reduce the risk of flooding by improving natural drainage.

Work is also under way to integrate clean technology, including green hydrogen energy
production through the leading HyDEX Smart Green Hydrogen Demonstrator. Our knowledge about climate change mitigation is increasing, and we are proud members of a global effort by university researchers to work together with each other, and with organisations to win the race
against climate change.