Newcastle: Now and Then?

As 3rd Ring Out arrives up north, Newcastlians are experiencing what would happen to the Toon in the event of unchecked climate change. The Newcastle City Council has been considering this problem for some time now and in a major report has identified specific impacts on the city. Among other disasters across the UK, in this region, climate change would specifically bring about:

• Drier summers and wetter winters, which will lead to flash flooding both in the areas along the Tyne and along the North Sea coast
• Damage to local buildings as these temperature and humidity extremes stress local building materials
• Loss of cloud cover over the long-term, leading to further stresses
• Increased sea level rise which will threaten areas along the coast and increase the volume of water in the Tyne
• The potential drying up of the tributaries of the Tyne, which is already underway, and
• The reduction of moisture in the soil by as much as 30% by 2080, which will hamper agricultural production severely and make Newcastle more dependent on imported foodstuffs.

These are just a few of the impacts that have been projected — what do you think would happen in your area of town? Leave a comment for discussion!

drier summers (in extreme scenarios up to 50% less
rainfall by 2080) and wetter winters (30% more rainfall with much less
snowfall too). This will lead both to flash flooding in the area along
the Tyne river and coasts, and damage to local buildings as they're
stressed by accelerated humidification and evaporation. This will be
exacerbated by the loss of cloud cover as well-- up to 6% decrease
potentially projected.