From the Regional Council

Climate change has been the subject of arguments for a good many years now.  Initially the disagreement centred on whether or not it was actually happening.  Then, when the massive weather events worldwide seemed to solidly support the affirmative, the contention moved to whether humans had anything to do with it or not.  Now, even that is largely accepted although some will challenge just how much impact man is having on the cyclical climate patterns.

If we put all the arguments to one side however, and accept that our weather will be different in the future; the questions we need to answer are, how different and what do we need to do to adapt?

While the answer to the first may seem a bit like crystal ball gazing it is possible to make informed comment by looking at weather pattern trends and modelling the outcomes.  To help with this Greater Wellington Regional Council has worked with NIWA and the latest report on climate drivers and impacts is out.  

The report tells us which climate influences can contribute to drought or flood, heat or cold, windy or less windy weather conditions throughout the region. The hydrology component shows that most ‘drivers’, once active, will generally contribute to drier seasons, that is, both El Nino and La Nina may bring drought in summer and spring. 

This report gives us more confidence in the predictions we make. We have already had good feedback from people who need this information such as farmers and GNS Science. Talks and workshops with interested people will be organised in the Wairarapa later in the year to explain the capabilities of this tool. The report can be viewed at:

http://www.gw.govt.nz/seasonal-climate-and-water-resource-summaries-2/. 

So that leads us on to adaption. One common theme that will probably focus everyone’s minds on this is insurance, regardless of the exact nature of your climate induced problem.  If the indications coming out of the insurance industry can be relied upon then it will be harder to buy insurance for properties with a known risk factor.  The previous ‘she’ll be right, I’m insured’ attitude will no longer be appropriate when it comes to assets in identified hazard areas, whether they be flood, landslip, earthquake etc.  

This could be a challenge for some who may see the value of their properties decline but ignoring it won’t make it go away.  What will work though is when communities agree with councils exactly what the risk is and hopefully GW’s climate change report will go some way to setting us on that path.

 Adrienne Staples