Fire chief calls for urgent action amid increasingly dangerous conditions: 'Our capacity to keep communities safe ... is at risk'

The professional voice of the U.K.'s fire and rescue service is urgently advocating for new recommendations to help protect its communities from extreme weather brought on by an overheating planet.

What's happening?

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is concerned about the threats that our warming world is already imposing and the additional risks it will bring in the future.

"Fire and rescue services are on the front line of responding to extreme weather events and we see firefighters, control officers and other emergency service partners repeatedly going above and beyond to protect their communities," said the NFCC Chair Mark Hardingham, per Emergency Services Times. "But we are seeing the risks around extreme weather increasing and, without adequate investment and further action from government, our capacity to keep communities safe and protect infrastructure is at risk."

According to the Met Office, the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service, winters are expected to be up to 4.5 degrees Celsius warmer (8.1 degrees Fahrenheit) and 30% wetter by 2070 compared to 1990. Summers are projected to warm by 6 degrees Celsius (10.8 Fahrenheit) as the season becomes 60% drier. If those forecasts are verified, it would likely mean an increase in extreme weather events, putting more citizens and emergency service workers at risk.

Why are the National Fire Chiefs Council recommendations important?

The NFCC's recommendations are a response to extreme weather seen in the U.K. and the United States. The U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information's (NCEI) 2024 billion-dollar disaster analysis documented 27 individual weather and climate disasters that incurred at least $1 billion in damages, barely falling behind the record-setting 28 events reported in 2023. The extreme weather events of 2024 caused at least 568 direct or indirect deaths.

"It is clear that the number of billion-dollar disasters and their total costs have risen since 1980," stated the NCEI report. "Even though the analysis adjusts for inflation, none of the highest years are from before 2000."

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"Population growth and how and where we build play a big role in the increasing number and costs of billion-dollar disasters," the NCEI report added. "But we also know from extreme event attribution research that human-caused climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of certain types of extreme weather that lead to billion-dollar disasters — most notably the rise in vulnerability to drought, lengthening wildfire seasons in the Western states, and the potential for extremely heavy rainfall becoming more common in the eastern states."

Researchers have found links between an overheating planet and many of the most recent deadly extreme weather events worldwide.

What's being done about an increase in extreme weather?

The Extreme Weather Survivors group offers free, bilingual support to people impacted by extreme weather events. According to its website, it is "a nationwide community of people directly harmed by disasters like wildfires, floods, extreme heat, deadly air pollution, drought, and hurricanes. It is a space for survivors to support and learn from one another and to fight to keep these disasters from happening to more families and communities."

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Curbing the carbon pollution being released into Earth's atmosphere is crucial. Changes we make to our homes and lifestyles can help. Installing solar panels, switching to induction stoves, and choosing an EV for your next vehicle purchases are all ways we can help as individuals.