UK to fare better than most as world warms up

[marmar]

from the Independent UK:




UK to fare better than most as world warms up
High night temperatures are predicted for UK cities, and these were blamed for deaths in the heatwave of 2003

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Friday, 17 June 2011


Britain will fare better than most other countries as the world heats up in the 21st century, but people living in London and other major UK cities will have to get used to uncomfortably hot summer nights, the latest assessment of global warming suggests.

A team of climate scientists in the United States have produced a detailed global study of the temperature increases expected in different regions over the coming century.

The analysis shows places such as China and the Arctic experiencing some of the greatest increases, while Britain remains relatively unscathed due mainly to the moderating influence of the North Atlantic. Even under the worst-case scenario, with a global failure to curb industrial emissions of carbon dioxide, Britain experiences an average temperature increase of between 2C and 4C by 2100, and North America has a catastrophic increase five times greater over the same period, the scientists say.

But the "urban heat-island" effect caused by buildings and roads trapping heat will mean that British cities will experience a much higher frequency of hot summer nights. High night-time temperatures, rather than day-time heat, was the major factor behind the deaths of thousands of elderly Europeans during the unusually hot summer of 2003: fatal heart and breathing problems usually strike at night. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/uk-to-fare-better-than-most-as-world-warms-up-2298706.html