Fact-Checking the Climate Change Committee's Latest Doom Report

No, Britain is not going to see soaring temperatures and sharp rises in flooding and storms by 2050

A new report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned that the British way of life is under threat from climate change. According to the press release:

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) today publishes ‘A Well-Adapted UK’. This new report sets out a comprehensive package of solutions to address the growing impacts of climate change affecting every aspect of life in the UK.

The country’s independent climate advisors identify better cooling, flood protection and a more secure water supply as the most critical priorities to protect the UK from the three biggest climate risks – heat, flooding and drought.

We are already seeing disruption today and without action these risks will escalate. By 2050, 92% of homes are likely to overheat, peak river flows will be up to 45% higher and water supply shortfalls could exceed five billion litres per day.

The cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of acting now. The Committee’s proposals require investment of around £11 billion a year, split broadly evenly between public and private funding. 

Without adaptation the cost of climate change to public welfare is predicted to rise to between 1-5% of UK GDP by 2050 under a 2°C global warming level, equivalent to £60-£260 billion per year.

The report specifically claims that by 2050:

• Heatwaves could regularly exceed 40°C and reach 45°C

• Record hot summers like 2025 will be the norm

• There will be a growing flood risk

• Storms will have stronger winds

• Summer will be drier, leading to drought and water shortages

• High temperatures caused the deaths of over 3,000 people in the summer of 2022

• Heat-related excess deaths could rise to 10,000 a year

• 10 million properties will be at risk from flooding by 2050

• Heat is the deadliest single climate-related health threat in the UK

It’s the same load of baloney we are used to seeing from the CCC, all designed to scare us into accepting the price of Net Zero.