Any recovery from the recession could undo the trend toward more environmentally friendly living.
A shift toward more sustainable lifestyles might be undermined by the UK’s anticipated recovery from its economic crisis.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) warned that the security of the UK’s water supply and wildlife is being threatened by an expanding population and the need for more and bigger dwellings.
According to the assessment of the challenges confronting the nation, there is also a possibility that public concern with environmental issues would decrease as more individuals live in towns and cities and lack “experience of the natural world.” It also cautions that younger generations may be most affected by this tendency.
The UK analysis, which was presented by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), also issues a warning that Britain’s growing reliance on overseas manufacturing to satisfy consumer demand will continue to cause “offshoring” of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts through the consumption of goods and services produced outside of the UK.
It uses previously released data to project that by 2050, the average summer temperature in England will rise by 2.5C, there will be more droughts in the summer, and there will be more ocean acidification, according to a pan-European report titled “The European Environment: State and Outlook 2010” that covers the 27 EU member states and 11 other countries in Europe.
After 20 years in which there have been little change in the actual expenses of driving while the cost of public transportation has increased, the UK continues to be concerned about rising automobile use. Additionally, it claims that in less than 30 years, the number of travelers utilizing UK airports has quadrupled.
“The UK is concerned about the need to adjust to the effects of climate change, and we’re working on the first-ever risk evaluation so that we can plan for the challenges that climate change will inevitably bring,” said environment minister Caroline Spelman.
Many of the challenges raised in the study are mirrored in Defra’s priorities, and the natural environment white paper, which we’ll be releasing in the spring, will outline our plans for safeguarding animals and resources, enhancing air quality, and minimizing the UK’s environmental impact.
The EEA’s assessment of the entire continent highlights well-known trends, including worries about an increase in forest fires and droughts around the Mediterranean, a decline in the amount of ice in the Arctic and the Alps, an increase in floods and storms, particularly in northwestern Europe, and unsustainable methods of fishing for many commercial species.
It issues a warning that not all countries have made progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; in EU member states, transportation emissions increased by 25% between 1990 and 2008. The EU has fallen short of its goals to stem biodiversity loss due to increased land use intensity, habitat loss, and overfishing. It also suggests that more “green taxes” are needed to represent the costs associated with the environment.
“We are using more natural resources than the environment can sustain. This holds true for both Europe and the entire planet, according to the agency’s executive director, Jacqueline McGlade. The most obvious indicator of instability to date is climate change, but a number of global trends point to future systemic dangers to ecosystems that are bigger.