Impact of Climate Change on Abbey Wood: Health Risks and Mitigation

This essay examines the impact of climate change on the environment and health of residents in Abbey Wood, London. It identifies key environmental issues such as air pollution and flooding, and explains how these issues affect the health of the local population. The essay also assesses current mitigation measures implemented by local authorities, including efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban planning. Furthermore, it recommends additional steps, such as installing cavity walls and utilizing decentralized energy systems, to enhance climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts, aiming for a more sustainable and healthy environment for Abbey Wood residents. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar solved assignments and study resources.

Running head: Environment and Health
Environment and Health

Environment and Health 1
“Impact of climate change risks on Abbey Wood and measures
taken to mitigate them “
Abbey Wood is situated in South East London within the areas of Bexley and Greenwich.The
Abbey of St Mary and St. Thomas was founded in 1178 by Richard de Luci. Environment forms
the basis of economy of Abbey Wood and it has a powerful impact on the health and quality of
life of the local residents. It has an crucial role to play in the function of economy of London as
the resources are used for the production of goods and services by the people and business .So,
developing infrastructure and high environmental standards which meets the current and future
environmental challenges are crucial to ensure the continued competitiveness of London. In this
essay, the various aspects of climate change on Abbey Woods shall be discussed. Furthermore,
the currently adopted measures along with recommendations to improve the scenario shall also
be evaluated.
It has been observed that the maintenance of natural capital and the components of the natural
environment have declined over time. In this context, climate change has become a significant
risk affecting the environment of Abbey Wood. Though it has been noted that the emission of
CO2 has decreased by 11% since 90s but recently there has been a sudden rise in the greenhouse
gases and it presents a risk to the economy and environment of the area. Poor quality of air
continues to create severe economic costs to the area which is estimated to a loss of 140000 life
years or around £3.7 billion (Greater London Authority, 2018).
As per The Guardian (2014) due to increased air pollution, there has been a warning issued to the
residents of Abbey Wood who are suffering from respiratory difficulties. The low pressure of air
for many weeks has resulted in pollution in the area. It has also occurred as a result of the
combination of dust from the Sahara desert with the pollution and smog. As a consequence,
warnings have been issued to older people and children to stay indoors.
The air pollution has caused asthmatic and respiratory disorders to adults and children. They
have been advised to reduce physical exertion and increase the usage of inhaler more than
before. It has been predicted that with the growing air pollution, many of the areas including
Abbey Woods are not be expected to be safe by 2030 and they can be penalized with heavy

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fines in return. However, the Mayor has planned for certain measures to decrease air pollution
such as restricting pollution emitting diesel vehicles and charging higher congestion but at the
same time, these cannot be implemented for several years at the same time (Shue,2014).
There has been an increase in the air pollutants in 2013 but after that they have become steady
and there is not further decline in the number. The air pollution is causing sever adverse impacts
on the health of adults and young people in the area. Their health would be severely impaired by
air pollution before the administration attempts to meet the air quality safety standards. So there
is a need for more urgent actions to mitigate the impact of air pollution in the area.
In the opinion of Sample (2014) the major reason for air pollution in Abbey Woods is the
easterly winds bringing pollutants from the mainland thereby permitting the local pollution to
stay nearer to the place it is produced. The Saharan dust can be a major factor for air pollution. If
this dust increases at higher levels in the environment and does not meet the low pressure winds,
there is a possibility that the air particulates reach the local area prior to hitting the ground.
Winds of not less than 20mph are a pre requisite for sweeping the sand in the environment but in
the Saharan desert, their speed is not less than 40mph in the recent scenario.
The impact of air pollution can be as serious as causing heart attacks to the citizens of Abbey
Wood. It has been found that one in every 50 heart attacks caused is due to air pollution in
Abbey Wood. The air pollutants are the cause of reactions in the body which can worsen the
conditions of this disease. The air pollution can be also be caused due to the tiny particles carried
through the bodies of individuals arriving from the continent through the inhale and exhale of
breaths. These can cause immediate problems to some of the citizens such as asthma and add on
to the longer problems such heart disease and strokes.
According to Climate UK (2012) flooding is another aspect of climate change which poses a
sever risk financial risk to the economy of Abbey Woods. It has caused loss to assets, premises
and stock thereby comprising of increased number of insurance claims and probable uninsurable
risks. It can also cause reputational damage as a result of discontinuity of business. Some of the
local councils have stated that their provision of services as a result of weather events have led
to an increase in the emergency calls for services.

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Overheating and reduced water supplies has become the major reasons for premature deaths and
increase in the wide range of diseases and has many environmental impacts such as deteriorated
vegetation and ecosystems. These have become major risks in the area of Abbey Wood and have
severely influenced the health and productivity of the local citizens and thus the economic
growth of the area is affected.
As a result, those industries which depend upon weather such as agriculture and tourism
industries are suffering from the loss of reduced water supply and overheating. It has been
predicted that the after effects of not mitigating the impact of climate change are severe. The
costs of not acting would be equal to 5% of annual GDP while taking actions to diminish the
greenhouse gas would cost 1% of annual GDP (Bowen and R ydge,2011).
In this regard the several changes have been introduced to improve the environmental
performance through the integration of sustainability principles and practices in the policies and
strategies of the local administration. It includes certain steps such as evaluating and applying the
policies and plans relating to sustainable growth to the environmental sustainability projects.
Coordinating and maintaining the environmental management system at an ISO14001:2004
certified levels.
The progress of the environmental sustainable projects is monitored through the review of the
environmental management programs by the Environmental Sustainability Board. The local
administrative bodies have ensured that they comply with the carbon reduction commitment
energy efficiency schemes and the energy performance of building directives .They have also
improved upon the utility metering so that they can regulate , supervise and analyze the results of
initiatives related to energy and made recommendations for their continuous improvement.
They have installed solar panels and biomass boilers in order to mitigate air pollution and resolve
the issues of overheating. They also aim to write an annual report providing information of their
environmental performance comprising of an overview of their external commitments and
responsibilities (University of East London,2018).
They have endeavored to develop engagement campaigns and awareness regarding
environmental issues and they have advertised and communicated the environmental

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sustainability efforts all over the area. The efforts to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases and
their emissions by the local communities and administration will help to decelerate the rate of
climate change. Thus successful implementation of the measures will require the prioritization of
the actions, good information about change in the climate and capability to apply and implement
the responses over the time (Yulandhika and Nugrahanti, 2014).
Since mitigation is the first task to address the root causes of climate change, so the local
administration of Abbey Wood is attempting to reduce the greenhouse emissions arising from
human activities. For this they are encouraging the citizens to stop the usage of fossil fuels and
motivating them to judiciously conduct their commercial operations in the context of use of
land and urban development (Fankhauser and Stern ,2016).
Based on the master plan prepared by the municipal corporations and other local bodies of the
area, they have pledged to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by optimum usage of
renewable sources of energy and conservation of forests. Another step taken in this behalf is
utilizing the degraded land to plant trees by enhancing their fertility. It could avoid emissions of
greenhouse gases leading to deforestation.
By implementing the community engagement plans, the local authorities with the help of NGOs
and the local citizens have planned to support the governance of natural resource management.
They have been involving the forest communities for the evolution of low carbon development
strategies. They have been engaged in decision making at operational and strategic levels as well
other policy dialogues with the stakeholders (Wade, 2018).
They have attempted to improve the livelihoods of the people who depend upon the cutting of
forests thereby decreasing the pressure on the environment for short, medium and longer terms.
Through the implementation of vulnerability assessments, the local authorities have identified
specified climate risks confronted by various stakeholders. They have been engaged in deriving
strategies which are climate friendly. Since it has been known that change in the climate poses a
threat to food security as well, so they have developed adaptation strategies for the agricultural
sector (OECD,2015).

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They have also developed strategies which target on improving the measures taken for reduction
of disaster risks and preparedness and management for the unforeseen calamities. They have
initiated the stakeholder based adaptation to strengthen the local communities in order to
decrease their vulnerabilities. They have also coordinated with the national government for
conducting media campaigns for highlighting the impacts of change of climate on humans and
the required actions taken in this regard for mobilization of masses to engage in ecofriendly
activities (Asian Development Bank, 2017).
Lastly, urban planning plays an important role in the adaption and mitigation strategies of
environmental protection. So, greater emphasis has been laid on improving the infrastructures
and safeguarding the local residents from environmental hazards (Mayer, 2018).
Further steps which can be taken to improve the process of mitigation and adaption regarding the
climate change by the local authorities include installation of cavity walls and lofts. The
installation of high performance windows can effectively reduce the emissions. In this way, 60%
decrease in the emissions arising from households can be accomplished by the year 2050.
The street to street approach is required in this regard with the improvements to be made on one
area at a time. It shall create economies of scale which is able to decrease the costs as well as
encourage the households to participate in the scheme. It will also help in identifying the sites
which will be suitable for refitting the combined heat and power equipment. The worst insulated
homes shall be installed with energy saving equipment. It will also help in contributing to tackle
with the fuel inefficiency (Ryngaert , 2017).
The local councils in this behalf can cooperate by utilizing their experience to implement the
area wise schemes in a successful manner. They can play an enabling role to assist the finance
and discounted materials for residents who wish to make their houses ecofriendly.
Additionally, the decentralized system of energy can captivate and utilize the local heat produced
through generation of electricity. It will also help in reducing the loss of power through
transmission. It would require shift to the energy saving and absorbing equipment such as CHP
and micro generation technologies such as solar thermals , micro wind turbines , ground source
heat pumps and photovoltaic (Rosenzweig et al.,2011).

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For this, the installation of appropriate infrastructure and creation of Abbey Wood Climate
Change Agency is the first step which should be taken in this behalf. For executing this project,
the central governments should be requested to fund the local authorities for the creation of
decentralized energy framework in Abbey Wood. The capital can be raised by issuing bonds and
shares. The support of other corporations and NGOs is required who wish to set up and execute
the local renewable energy frameworks in their area (Workman et al., 2018).
The new buildings which are being constructed in the local area should be designed according to
low carbon standards. It is essential that the buildings constructed in the next few years should
help in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. For fulfilling this purpose, a renewable
energy escalator shall be produced and guidelines should be set for each department which aim
to reduce the problem of overheating (Henderson et al., 2017).
The best measure which can be adopted to discourage the pollution emitting vehicles and
reducing the car usage is to implement the method of road pricing across the area with charges
which can be based on distance and emissions. It implies that people who would drive to the
farthest destination through a polluted vehicle shall pay more. It should be accompanied by a
travel management program –a set of policies which are designed to decrease the overall need of
using private vehicles and encouraging the users to switch to less polluting methods (Green,
2015).
Steps should be taken to decrease the amount of freight traffic to bring down the overall
emissions due to freight .The emission of CO2 should be controlled and prevented in the low
emission zone so that the polluting vehicle should be prevented from driving through the area.
Furthermore, freight consolidation centers should be formulated in order to diminish the distance
of transportation of goods so that more goods shall be transported through water (Goodall, 2017).
In order to mitigate pollution and its effects, walking and cycling should be encouraged in the
area. The spaces on the roads should be reformulated in order to create streets which can be fit
for walking and cycling as pleasant modes of travelling. A speed of 20mph shall be fixed to
achieve the target of pollution free environment. The revolutionary step which can be taken in
this regard is to introduce the policies reacted to providing jobs and amenities to people in their
own areas (Brazier, 2015).

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Hence, this essay can be concluded on the note that in order to mitigate the effects of climate
change, the authorities should motivate the citizens to take measures to reduce carbon emissions
at the personal level. The citizens and the businesses should be motivated to transform their
behaviors and move towards sustainable production and lifestyles leading to carbon emissions.

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