Project Description
Preparing Heswall for an uncertain future
Although reducing carbon emissions is vital, climate change is happening today, and there are significant changes that we have already ‘baked in’ to our future climate. As a community, we have the chance to prepare for some of these future shocks and put in place plans on how we would deal with them.
A University of Liverpool 2019 report identifies 4 key environmental challenges facing the Liverpool City Region: Global Warming, Biodiversity Loss, Poor Air Quality, Growing Waste.
Unchecked, global warming will impact on sea -level rise, human health, labour productivity, agricultural productivity, tourism, energy demand, and weather and weather-related events (violent storms, hurricanes, floods, landslides, land loss, blizzards, heat waves, droughts, crop failure, wildfires, desertification, & tornadoes). There will be a large-scale flight of climate refugees, especially from low-lying coastal areas.
Climate Change Adaptation
As a community, we need to consider things like how we could feed Heswall through more locally produced foods. Practical considerations such as local energy, drought resistant plants, rainwater harvesting & how our landscapes and gardens deal with excessive rainfall are flagged in the Whitfield Common case study (Climate Resilient Parks).
In the longer term, we need to consider Lower Heswall’s response to coastal flooding (as our neighbours West Kirby and Parkgate have both grappled with). And most importantly, how do we increase community resilience so we are better able to deal with the climate chaos which lies ahead?
If this is an area that you are interested in, get in touch with us.
The Merseyside Resilience Forum helps the area prepare for emergency events, with a guide on what to do in an emergency. There is also the Wirral Emergency Response volunteer scheme, by Wirral Council. And at the national level, the charity Groundwork run the “Communities Prepared” programme (link) offering support and training to local emergency volunteer groups.
In Heswall, some of our more immediate risks include:
- Surface flooding & heavy rainfall events
- Heat waves leading to health issues & wildfires on commons, plus crop failures
- (longer term) Sea level rise & reshaping of Dee estuary plus impact on lower Heswall
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