It may only just have been the second warmest year on record (with the mean UK temperature a mere 0.06˚C cooler than 2022 at 9.97˚C), but 2023 was another indicator of an alarming trend — climate change is ‘starting to bite’. According to the Met Office, the five warmest years in the UK since 1884 include 2020, 2022 and 2023, and the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 2003. This year is set to be warmer still and, without predictable weather patterns and proper seasons, the impact on wildlife is increasingly negative, with a higher likelihood of pests and diseases, and chaos for animals, trees and plants.
In this election year, the National Trust is calling for politicians to make this a top priority. ‘We want to see parties commit to accelerating progress on Nature restoration, increase support for Nature-based solutions to climate change and to put climate adaptation at the heart of their manifestos,’ says the Trust’s head of nature and restoration ecology Ben McCarthy.
In 2023, during our warmest-ever June, the River Derwent in the notoriously wet Borrowdale Valley in the Lake District dried out for the third consecutive year. We also had the hottest July globally and a warm and wet autumn followed by a handful of seriously damaging storms; Storm Ciaran saw one area of Dorset coast cared for by the Trust suffer up to 15 years’ worth of erosion in only one day.
‘Shorter winters… could have particularly devastating impacts for trees — with cold snaps just not long enough to kill off diseases such as oak processionary moth, whose caterpillars infest oak trees, leaving them vulnerable to other threats,’ continues Mr McCarthy.
‘Warmer winters could also impact our heathlands, allowing the heather beetle to take hold, killing off huge swathes of heather. It impacts hibernators such as dormice, which may emerge from torpor (hibernation) early, using up vital energy stores, and red deer may leave rutting to later, meaning calves are born in the summer rather than the spring, with insufficient time to grow and put on fat reserves to survive cold snaps. It’s these baseline changes that we’re seeing that are really worrying.’
He concludes: ‘The incremental shifts we’re experiencing… may not feel like much in a 12-month period, but over a decade the changes are extremely significant. It demonstrates how vitally important it is to continually assess local conditions to ensure that we have the right conservation plans in place to help Nature adapt.’
Credit: Caters
Dormice: Britain’s sleepiest, and most charming little creatures
David Profumo takes a look at the lovely little dormouse – a delightful little creature which spends 75 per cent
Hazel dormice being introduced into a slice of Britain's ancient woodland: 'We hope this is the first of many'
Efforts to save Britain's hazel dormice are working — and now they're being reintroduced to the wild in Derbyshire.
-
The century-old enamelling technique used to create Van Cleef's lucky ladybird brooch — which has something in common with Country LifeThe technique used in the jeweller's Geneva workshop has been put to good use in its latest creation.
-
‘The best sleep in the sky’: What it’s like to fly in United’s Polaris cabin, approved by American icon Martha StewartUnited’s Business Class cabin goes by the name Polaris and Martha Stewart is a fan. So, how does it fare?
-
Four of Britain's biggest Nature charities join the fight against 'Greenwashing'Four of the nation’s largest conservation charities have joined forces to encourage responsible private investment in Nature recovery and to combat ‘corporate greenwashing’. James Fisher reports.
-
Green Farm Commitment makes farmers see redA new ‘environmental module’ proposed by the farm-assurance scheme Red Tractor has drawn heavy criticism from farmers. James Fisher reports.
-
National Marine Week is so packed that they've had to make it two weeks longNational Marine Week runs from July 22nd to August 6th, which begs three questions: what is happening, how you can join in, and why they call it a 'week' when it's a fortnight long. James Fisher reports.
-
How the Church of England joined the race to Net ZeroJames Fisher reports on a very 21st century addition to one of Britain's great cathedrals.
-
'An incomprehensible act of self-harm': The angry reaction to the new coal mine in CumbriaThe government's decision to allow a new coal mine to be opened has sparked outrage from across the political and environmental spectrum, as James Fisher reports.
-
Climate change means we need new approach to tree planting or we'll keep losing them in storms, says chair of Forestry CommissionBritain needs to think again about its plans for tree planting, according to Forestry Commission data. Stuart Martel reports.
-
Curious Questions: What do all the different recycling symbols mean?Figuring out what recycling symbols tell us about can and can’t be recycled can feel as if you’re trying to decipher the Da Vinci code. Rosie Paterson decodes nine of the most frequently used symbols.
-
Where to find the 30 ladybirds hidden in this week's issue of Country Life magazineEvery week in Country Life, we put a ladybird on the front cover. For the 19 May 2021 issue — our sustainability special — we've hidden 30 of them throughout the magazine.
