Environment Researcher Expects Other Dams To Face Collapse As A Result Of Climate Change

4 August 2019, 17:13

An environment and climate change expert tells LBC the affect of climate change on other British dams will "get worse" over the next four decades.

Bob Ward said despite emergency services pumping water out of Toddbrook Reservoir at Whaley Bridge, the danger the dam could collapse "has not passed by any means".

Speaking to Clive Bull, the Policy Director at the Graham Research Institute for Climate Change and the Environment said the dam had not been built to "withstand current levels of rainfall", and like most infrastructure across the country "it was built for the climate of the last century".

Mr Ward warned the dam was "struggling to cope" with the current climate, and the problem will only get worst over the coming decades.

"The danger has not passed by any means," Mr Ward said.

"The issue here it seems is the dam was not built to withstand current levels of rainfall that we're experiencing, and like much of country it was built for the climate of the last century.

"It's struggling to cope with the climate we now have, and the climate it is becoming.

"Since 2000 we've had our 10 warmest years on record and six of our seven wettest years record - which is because the atmosphere is warmer, a warmer atmosphere can hold more water so when it rains, it rains more heavily.

"So what we're seeing more of these heavy rainfalls."

Clive asked: "And you think we'll see more of this kind of incident?"

"That's the pattern, and that's the important message here - this is not as bad as it will get.

"It will get worse for the next three or four decades."

Watch above.