Water, water
everywhere...
First governments, and now engineers, are leading the way in developing plans for surviving in
our changing world
Global warming is predicted to
make some big changes to
Earth’s entire environment
over the next century. Its
effects are predicted to include increased
drought, more heat waves and the
collapse of some crops.
The effects are already being seen
in the UK. Two of the most signi cant
changes for UK society are likely to be
felt at the coasts, where sea levels are
expected to rise as polar ice caps melt,
and in low-lying areas inland, as more
frequent and intense storms dump greater
quantities of rain than the land can drain
away, leading to ooding.
The engineering community has begun
to prepare for the increased risk of
damage wrought by a more hostile side
of nature in our green and pleasant land.
First, what is billed as the rst standard
to deal with adapting to climate change,
BS EN ISO 14090, was published by BSi
in September. Second, in November, the
Institution of Mechanical
hazards and impacts,” he explained in a
Engineers published
‘Rising Seas: The Engineering Challenge’
(see box).
Turning rst to the standard,
Adaptation to Climate Change –
Principles, Requirements and Guidelines,
lead author John Dora points out that
its purpose is to help particularly those
operating infrastructure (or anyone
else) that is vulnerable to the effects of
climate change consider how to adapt.
“It’s a structured way to think about
webinar organised by the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers in November.
The standard (pictured in diagrammatic
form, right) guides companies through
the process of assembling data, turning
it into knowledge, and systematically
reviewing it to reveal gaps in their plans.
However, it is also non-linear, in the
sense that users can start anywhere
and at any point in their own stage of
The report also proposes that industry task forces are set up within the UK’s professional engineering
adaptation.
In explaining its relevance to the
engineering community, he poses a few
questions. “Do you know how weather
and climate will impact your production
PLAN FOR 3M RISES IN SEA LEVELS – REPORT
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers report (www.is.gd/ocicir) argues that
governments should do more to prepare for a 1m average sea level rise to
2100, and plan for rises up to 3m. It argues that operators and owners of
key infrastructure assets such as power stations, which are often located in
estuaries or on the coast, are unaware of the likely impact of coastal ooding
or how much it will cost to improve their resilience.
institutions to “better de ne adaptive approaches to future uvial, pluvial and sea level-related
coastal ooding events, for sea level rises up to three metres this century, and the requirements for
assessment of the impacts on the building services and industrial infrastructure.”
14 www.ied.org.uk
/ocicir)
/www.ied.org.uk