By Paul Homewood
Another remarkably silly piece by Jillian Ambrose in the Telegraph today, as you may guess from the headline:
“As water shortages become more common in Britain, can our infrastructure cope with drought? “
Her apocalyptic headline is based on Environment Agency figures, showing that this winter’s rainfall has been below normal:
The damp chill of south east England is an unlikely backdrop for drought preparations. But deep beneath rain-swept streets, the vital groundwater which quenches Britain’s most populous area is worryingly low, and reservoirs are struggling to refill even through the dark, February drizzle.
Around 8,000 miles away, on the tip of Africa, drought has taken a more predictable form: sun-tanned locals of Cape Town were pictured last week queuing in the South African heat with giant plastic water cans to fill up at natural springs.
It is a sobering reminder of the importance of water for British government officials and water companies as they devise plans for the summer after one of the driest years since the drought of 1976.
The winter months are crucial in the industry, and in hydrological terms stretch from October to April. In summer, rainfall is quickly absorbed by plant life or evaporates in the sun. So it is winter rain that falls in these periods that is best able to top up Britain’s aquifers.
The Environment Agency’s figures show that last year rainfall was a quarter below normal levels. The current winter is faring little better. In October rainfall was 63pc lower than usual, and the driest month since 1978. November’s rainfall was 34pc lower than usual. The dry autumn months may have given way to a wet Christmas but January saw a return to drier than usual conditions….
“There’s a growing population in areas that might already be quite water stressed, such as the South East. There are climate change impacts as well.”
If Jillian had bothered to look at the actual data, she might have realised that October to April rainfall in the South East has always been variable, but there is no evidence of any long term decline.
Last year was certainly low, but only 7th lowest since 1910. In other words, the sort of thing you get every decade on average.
So far this winter, rainfall has also been below average, but 31 years have been drier since 1910.
What we are seeing is weather, not climate. Next year may be dry, wet, or just normal.
Of course, it is long ago that the Met Office were telling us to expect wetter winters.
Meanwhile the water companies are happy to blame their own shortcomings on climate change, and record this and thats.
Sadly, Jillian Ambrose does not know enough to challenge them about it, and allows them to get away with their excuses.
As usual, the commenters can see through her flim flam. It is a pity the Telegraph’s editors can’t.
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February 4, 2018 at 11:42AM
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