West Sussex and climate change

West Sussex County Council has joined a partnership of 10 other organisations from across north-west Europe to look at how to plan for a future with climate change at local, regional, national and European levels.

ESPACE (European Spatial Planning: Adapting to Climate Events) is an ambitious four-year European project that aims to promote an awareness of the importance of adapting to climate change. The County Council is taking a lead role within the ESPACE project in raising awareness of climate change and the need to adapt to it.

As well as developing an awareness campaign for the County, a detailed study is being run on the Manhood Peninsula. This is the low-lying area jutting in to the English Channel with Chichester to the north and Selsey Bill at its southern tip. In association with the Manhood Peninsula Partnership, ESPACE aims to show how adapting to climate change can be achieved through close co-operation with the local community

Across the whole of West Sussex, the ESPACE project will be working to raise awareness of climate change, and of how to adapt to the affects it will have on our lives.

Plants and the ozone effect

Research at the University of Exeter has shown that ground level ozone fogs, which are now increasingly common, can have a damaging effect on vegetation and inhibit its ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

One of the main lessons of this is that there are many things other than carbon dioxide levels that will affect climate change. Just doing something about our carbon footprints is not enough.

The research was undertaken by Stephen Sitch at the University's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and there are further details if you follow this link.