Responsibility for Protecting the Environment in Sheffield - Term Paper Example

Introduction For Sheffield, a northern English city, 25th June 2007 started as a normal, wet and rainy day. There had been forecasts that June would be a rainy month, but the Sheffield residents did not worry much because they felt that the hilly city was not prone to flooding. Most of the Sheffield residents did not even remember the last time there was a flood in their city. Digging back in history books would reveal that it had been 150 years since the Great Sheffield Flood that was caused by the bursting of the Dale Dyke Dam. A total of 1260 properties were flooded in the June 2007 floods that shocked many residents of Sheffield. Hundreds of people were trapped in their offices and homes as the floods ravaged through. The Government and relief agencies helped the Sheffield residents escape from the floods and get back on their feet. The Environment Agency for England and Wales is responsible for protecting the environment in Sheffield (Hanlon 2008, p. 29). This natural disaster served as a wakeup call not only to the United Kingdom, but to the rest of the world as well. Factors contributing to the floods June was the wettest summer in Sheffield since 1776 when rainfall record taking began. The total amount of rainfall in the United Kingdom for the period between May and July 2007 was 387.6 millimetres (Walayat 2007). This was a shocking and high reading when compared to the previous annual average reading of just 186.3 millimetres (Walayat 2007). The extreme rainfall that fell in July was a result of a steady stream of low pressure systems that were tracked over Sheffield. The wet summer also caused below average sunshine levels. This reduction in sunshine led to reduced evaporation rate, which is usually at its highest during summer. The massive amounts of rainfall and the reduced rates of evaporation caused the worst flooding seen in Sheffield in one and a half centuries. By definition, a jet stream is a fast flowing, relatively narrow jet of air that is normally located eleven kilometres high in the Earth’s atmosphere. This jet stream is steering and generating weather systems over Europe. Jet streams are also helpful in determining the location of low and high air pressure acting on the surface of the earth. The anomalous wet weather of June 2007 can be traced back to the jet stream that had driven a large scale weather pattern that had steadily persisted over Europe. A persistent train of waves with a trough located close to Europe steered the Atlantic weather systems towards the United Kingdom. This train of waves moved slowly, which resulted in more prolonged rainfall than in situations where the weather systems are more mobile. The trough to the west of the United Kingdom directed unusually moist air. This is because the trough passed over a more southerly track than normal, thereby passing over warm sea temperatures (Kessler et al. 2008, p. 8-24). These meteorological conditions prior to the summer were important contributing factors in the severe and widespread flooding that resulted. Rainfall was above average across the United Kingdom from December 2006 to February 2007. This increased the moisture level in the soil. The underground layers of sand, rock and gravel were filled with water. As much as winter experienced unusually high rainfall, the spring that followed in March and April had normal weather. May was very wet, which caused higher runoff rates. A lagged response to the exceptionally wet weather was witnessed by the groundwater-fed rivers. At the beginning of May the river flows were very low but by mid May, the levels had begun to rise. By the end of May, several flood warnings had been put in place in the United Kingdom. There is no doubt that climate change caused the floods in Sheffield. Climate change can occur either naturally or it can be affected by human activity. Some natural factors that have contributed to climate change include plate tectonics, solar output, orbital variations, gradual push and sudden shift, volcanic activity and ocean variability (Smith 2009). Human activity has contributed both directly and indirectly to the composition of the global atmosphere. Irrigation, for instance, has a direct impact on humidity. Some human activities have a less clear and ambiguous effect on the climate. There have been numerous arguments on just how much humans have contributed to climate change. At the moment, the scientific consensus on climate change is that the rapid increase in the global average temperature over the last decades has been caused by human activity. Debate has shifted onto methods that can be applied so as to reduce the impact of humans and as well as ways to adapt to the changes that have already occurred. The most important factors that have been looked into are the increase in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels into the atmosphere, depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, deforestation, land use, animal agriculture, and particulate matter in the atmosphere and cement manufacture (Smith 2007). These factors all play a role in affecting climate. Global warming has caused an increase in the average temperature of the air near the surface of the earth and oceans. Global warming has caused widespread melting of ice and snow and the rising of the sea level. The year 2005 was the warmest since the late 1800s. Green house gas emissions caused most of the global warming that was seen in the twentieth century. These green house gases were emitted by burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Increased concentrations of atmospheric aerosols has blocked some sunlight from reaching earth’s surface and oceans, thereby reducing, to some extent, the effect of green house induced global warming. The green house effect is the process where gases in the atmosphere absorb and emit infrared radiation. These gases warm the lower atmosphere and surface of the earth. The green houses that occur in nature consist of water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone and methane. These natural green house gases have an average warming effect of 33 degrees Celsius. The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has greatly increased since the Industrial Revolution. The concentration of methane and carbon dioxide has increased by 148 percent and 36 percent respectively since the 18th century. The green house gases are at the highest level than has been observed in the last 650000 years. The data used to establish this fact was taken from ice cores. The carbon dioxide values continue increasing due to burning of fossil fuels and land use change. In the year 2100, if coal, methane clathrates and tar stands are extensively exploited, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide will have increased to an average of 150 percent since the year 1750 (Menteth 2007). Impact and risks caused by the flooding During the summer of 2007, very unstable and wet weather was linked to the widespread flash flooding that was witnessed throughout the United Kingdom. This flooding began in May, with the most rainfall being recorded in June and July. Several catchments became saturated and the banks of several swollen rivers were overtopped into major river basins. Sheffield was the worst hit as it suffered the largest flood it has seen in 150 years. On 25th June 2007, several rivers in the city of Sheffield topped their banks thereby causing extensive damage to the city and death of the residents. The Don River topped its bank thereby causing extensive flooding in the Don valley. River Sheaf became swollen and swept away a 14 year old boy. This same river caused widespread damage in the Millhouses park area. While attempting to cross a flooded road in the Sheffield city centre, a 68 year old man succumbed and fell to his death (Chatterton et al. 2010). Due to the floods, some shops at the Meadowhall shopping centre we closed until late September. People from the Brightside area had to be evacuated from the top of buildings by helicopters. The towns of Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster were cut off due to the widespread flooding. All of these events took place on 25 June. On 26th June, the Rotherham Ulley dam was noted to have developed cracks and over 700 residents were evacuated from the neighbouring town of Catcliffe. The army moved into the Doncaster area on 27th June after the River Don topped its banks, thereby threatening the Thorpe Marsh Power Station. The widespread panic led to a man being incorrectly reported as missing near the Adwick le Street village which is near Doncaster. The flood water was considered a health risk, and people were advised to not come into contact with the water to avoid the risk of contracting any illnesses. No outbreak cases were reported. Widespread crop damage because of the floods was witnessed. Some of the crops that were adversely affected were broccoli, peas, potatoes and carrots. Forty percent of the pea crops were damaged. In the few months following the flood the prices of vegetables raised immensely. The association of British insurers received a bill of three billion pounds for the months of June and July only. Agencies involved in the recovery phase The Chief executive of the Environmental Agency, Mr Baroness Young, said that at least one billion pounds would be set aside every year to improve flood defences in the United Kingdom. At the House of Commons, during the Prime Minister’s Questions, Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to push the insurance firms to make payouts. Brown also promised an annual 800 million pounds rise aimed at flood protection. Brown also pledge 46 million pounds as aid to the flood hit council. On 22nd July, the Government convened Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms that would co-ordinate the response to any future crisis. On the 25th day of July, Mr. Brown praised the emergencies for their efforts. On 8th August 2007, Sir Michael Pitt was appointed by Defra to chair an independent review. On 17th December 2007, Sir Michael published his interim report. On September 2007, The Cabinet Office website added a page that would let people to leave their comments and describe their experiences with the floods. Following the floods in Sheffield, the Fire Brigades Union described the rescue effort as being the biggest peacetime rescue operation in Britain (Charles 2007). Following the flooding, the Royal Air Force said it was carrying its biggest ever rescue operation in peacetime Britain. Six Sea King helicopters rescued 120 people. A Royal air Force heavy lift Chinook helicopter was used in moving aggregate so as to reinforce the collapsed banks of River Don. The South Yorkshire Flood Disaster Relief Fund encouraged flood victims to apply for financial help. Phase one of the payments gave at least 100 pounds to those people who had been affected by the floods. Those who had applied for the financial aid needed not have insurance. The relief was also available in later phases to help the victims of the Sheffield floods to get back on their feet. 1273 relief application forms were sent to various properties so as to encourage victims of the floods to apply for help. Customer Services Advisers were positioned at the city centre, Chapeltown and Hillsborough. Environmental management systems The flood defences in Sheffield were very few at the time the June 2007 floods took place. Despite the prolonged rains that preceded the flood, no measures had been taken to ensure that the full and overtopping reservoirs did not burst their banks. There are a number of fast flowing tributaries that flow into the River Don. These tributaries, along with River Don, had and still have trees growing in them. These trees caused a serious problem during the floods because the branches and trunks caused blockages in the river channels and under the bridges. Shoals of silt had also accumulated in the bed of the rivers, thereby reducing the flow of water in the canal. The Environmental Agency should take up measures to regularly remove the trees that block the rivers to avoid future floods. The shoals of silt from the river beds should also be checked and removed regularly so as to improve the river drainage system. This will play a great part in reducing any future floods in Sheffield. Flooding has become a global problem. The major cause of this is the climate change that has been induced by fossil fuels emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. All governments in the world should take keen and strict measures to ensure that industries do not emit their waste into the environment. As much as floods are a natural phenomenon that cannot be prevented, some human activities that contribute to climate change have increased the impact of flood events (Russo 2008). Human settlements and economic activities in floodplains should also be avoided. Excessive land use in flood plains has reduced the soil’s natural retention of water thereby increasing the probability of floods. Flood risk management plans need to be adopted in Sheffield so that they can provide a strategy that will be followed so as to avoid any future flood events. References Charles, P 2007, Flood centre set up for weekend, viewed 9 July 2010, . Chatterton, J, Viavattene, C, Morris J, Penning-Edmund, E & Tapsell, S 2010, The cost of the summer 2007 floods in England, Environment Agency, Bristol. Hanlon, D 2008, ‘Fire Service Operations: Environmental Protection’, Fire Service Manual, vol. 2, no. 1, pp 29. Kessler, H et al. 2008, ‘Flooding: Oral and written evidence’, vol. 2, no. 1, pp 8-24. Menteth, A 2007, U.K. summer 2007 floods, viewed 9 July 2010, . Russo, M 2008, Environmental management: readings and cases, 2nd edn, SAGE Publishers, Los Angeles. Smith, M 2007, The Great Flood: How Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster, Chesterfield and Worksop Survived the Summer Storms of 2007, At Heart Ltd, Cheshire. Smith, P 2009, Building for a Changing Climate: The Challenge for Construction, Planning and Energy, Earthscan, London. Walayat, N 2007, The Sheffield Great Flood of 2007-Wicker and Brightside area, . Read More