That Sinking Feeling

The British Environment Agency has calculated that over two million homes are at risk of being flooded, a situation that will get worse because of climate change. “The risk of flooding is ever present, and increasing”, says the Environment Agency (EA).

Despite everyone knowing that climate change will make matters worse, developers are still trying to develop on known flood-risk areas. Last year, planning permission was granted for 21 cases of “major developments” in the UK against the advice of the EA.

Barbara Young, the chief executive of the EA, says: “Recent floods, storms and drought have shown how vulnerable we are to the weather, illustrated by the floods last summer in Europe and the events in New Orleans.”

But still we carry on building on flood plains…