if global warming does happen what will great britain look like?

Question

what will the uk look like if the sea levels get higher???? any pictures please

Answer 1

Pretty much the same. But coastal flooding will have caused a lot of people to move and a lot of very expensive stuff will be lost.

That's actually a really interesting question in another sense. The most likely thing is that it will be warmer and drier. Since Great Britain has plenty of fresh water that won't be a big problem, as it will be elsewhere.

But the joker is that melting ice in Greenland _might_ disrupt ocean currents that warm Great Britain. If that happens it will be very cold and agriculture will be pretty much ruined. That will be a huge problem.

Answer 2

If it is anything like the period when the Vikings grew wheat in Greenland or a bit warmer, and the Gulf Stream doesn't change just picture the climate of northern Florida to North Carolina as it is now in the US. Orange trees along the south coast and palms, but still some occasional snow in the north. Everyone will need air conditioners.

The sea levels of that time were not 25 ft higher than now, so find a good topographic map and trace the 25 ft line or a lower elevation if shown. There will be little change in the shoreline.

resumbrae.com predicts 100 meters rise [well over 300 ft] which is a typical lie of the GW , "the sky is falling", Chicken Little crowd. Even if every ice cap and glacier melted, which they won't, there is not that much water on Earth. The last Great Ice Age only lowered sea levels by 100 ft and there was much more ice involved then than now..

Answer 3

Sea levels around the UK are currently rising by an average of 3mm a year and have been doing for some time now.

This isn't a great deal and it will be a long time before there are significant changes to the coastline. The areas most at risk are the low lying eastern counties in England - those between East Yorkshire and Kent.

The most vulnerable areas include those surrounding The Wash and the Thames and Humber Estuaries.

You may recall hearing about the devastating floods that struck the east coast back in 1952 (I think) when a storm surge swept down the north sea. Hardest hit was Norfolk where many people lost their lives, Canvey Island in Essex was almost completely flooded and althoug the loss of live here was less than elsewhere there was very extensive damage.

It's these same areas that will be the first to be lost to rising sea levels. Before that happens it's likely that there will be more instances of devastating floods and one concern is that much of London could be flooded. The Thames Barrier was constructed in the 70's and 80's to protect London from exceptional high tides but with ever rising sea levels there is a possibility that the barrier could be overtopped. All along the Thames are many wharfes with their own gates, some of these are susceptible to exceptional tides.

However, to keep things in perspective it's worth remembering that it's only a 3mm rise each year. Indications are that this will increase to 5 or 6mm in about 50 years time so that by the end of the century tides around the UK could be be 500 to 600mm higher than they are now. Current flood defenses wouldn't cope and large scale engineering projects would be needed to construct new flood defenses and raise existing ones.

I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures I can refer you to but if no action was taken and you were to visit the UK in 500 years time you'd see substantial indentations in the Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent Coastlines and large parts of London along the Thames Embankments would be under water. Other places would be affected as well but it's the East of England that will bear the brunt.

Answer 4

In the unlikely event of the Arctic ice melting, it will not raise the sea level one inch. That is because it is sea ice (floating on the sea) and ice has a larger volume than the equivalent amount of liquid water. Fill a bowl half full of water, add some ice cubes, mark the level, wait for the ice to melt and then check the level, it will be the same or a bit lower. There isn't anywhere enough ice to switch off the gulf stream. When it happened before, it was mile thick ice covering Canada that melted. These 'catastrophe' stories are propaganda not science.
During the medieval warm period 900 AD - 1200 AD, it was substantially warmer than today, without any catastrophic melting, or the polar bears dying out. It was a time of stability and prosperity for the British Isles with vineyards in the north of England.

Answer 5

Hi Ashley
i like the answers you got ... because they are so different from the french ones which were published on the french yahooo Q/R site this same week .. For most of the french people who answered the problem could happen only in foreign countries such as Bengladesh or Africa ...and some of them suggested that european nations could have to share their ground with millions of asian and africain people ..
if on both sides people are right, i am afraid that we will have to build a new Noe's arch (is that the word ??)

Answer 6

historic archives from the 1800's recommend an average upward curve in international temperatures with short down turns. Will there ever be adequate information to persuade some scientists or politicians that international warming is for genuine? probable not. whilst seawater ranges inundate coastal cities and aspects of Antartica start to teach eco-friendly grass and timber there'll nonetheless be persons that require extra archives. "What happens to international warming technology whilst the Earth refuses to heat?" nicely, my reaction is what happens whilst they are finally shown desirable? Will human beings affected by the climate differences be disappointed to be attentive to that their leaders have been warned for some years or centuries and did not act on the help? As known for the form of rhetorical communique, in easy terms time will tell.

Answer 7

Sea levels will rise so sell your house in low lying areas. Then the gulf stream will stop and we will see the onset of a mini ice-age given Britains northerly position. There will be increasingly violent weather during this period, crops will fail and farm animals will die due to drought and lack of fodder.

Sea levels should only rise by a few metres but there is argument about the actual level as increasing freshwater in the polar areas should result in more snow!! This would reduce sea levels so its a sea-saw thats difficult to measure.

I'm off to a higher place where there is a deep well and plenty of granite to create safe storage areas for food. Power will have to come from wind turbines but will be housed in a jet engine style housing for greater efficiency and strength. Solar panels will be used to supplement the turbines but the weather may well reduce their efficiency. Water sources will be important so I am working on extracting moisture from the air to supplement spring water etc.

I will also be buying the means to protect my property from raiders as there will be mass panic once food sources dry up and governments fail.

What a wonderful future !!!!!

Answer 8

It won't look like anything, the UK will be under water due to high tides, I think Harrowgate is the highest point in the country so move there you maybe safe, but I doubt it.

Answer 9

I have heard a lot about the gulf stream, the warm ocean current that runs in the atlantic and keeps Britain warm. Global warming could shut this down, which would mean Britain would become very cold very quickly if it did.

http://www.wildlifeuk.net - Wildlife and countryside forum

Answer 10

Its land mass will be smaller due to the receded coastline caused by rising sea levels.