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Spaniards could be sunning themselves on British beaches and Greeks could be cruising down the Rhine if global warming patterns continue, a report revealed today.
Southern Europeans could be heading northward for their summer break and British holidaymakers could be boycotting Benidorm as temperatures rise to unbearable levels within the next twenty years.
Scientists from eight European countries have spent the past three years estimating extreme climate change and its impact on six specific economic sectors over the next eighty years.
The comprehensive MICE report - Modelling the Impact of Climate Extremes - is published this week by the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit and concludes that the issue of global warming tends to be ignored by decision makers in business and governments because of the long-term predictions.
It comes as leaders gather for critical discussions on the levels of carbon emissions at the G8 summit on Thursday. (July 7)
The team gathered data from new climate models - a computer representation of the atmosphere, ocean and land surface - to predict the changing weather patterns across Europe.(quote from Professor Jean Palutikof at end)
Their findings confirm that, in the future:
-- Heat waves will become hotter and last longer over much of Europe
-- The cold season will become much shorter
-- Cold days with temperatures below freezing will decrease by up to 4 months in Northern Europe by 2070
-- Southern Europe and the Mediterranean will experience drier prolonged droughts and reduced rainfall
-- Northern Europe will be wetter in winter but periods of drought are likely to become more frequent in summer
-- There will be an increase in winter rain over most of Europe leading to greater flood risk and water pollution
-- The number of severe winter storms over Western Europe will increase
The impact of climate change was studied in six sectors - tourism, Mediterranean agriculture, forestry, water and property insurance. It consulted working parties of Europeans directly involved in the industries rather than policy makers.
