Which parts of Norwich could be underwater by 2030?
Willem Buttinger (inset) has spoken of his fears following a map showing which areas of Norwich may be at risk of flooding by 2030. - Credit: Willem Buttinger / Climate Control
Droves of homes and infrastructure in Norwich could be flooded over in less than a decade if more isn't done to put the brakes on climate change.
That is the warning from experts both in the Fine City and across the country.
In February the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a climate change risk assessment.
A map created by Climate Central, which shows which areas of Norwich are likely to be below the annual flood level by 2030. - Credit: Climate Central / Google
It reported: "For cities some aspects of climate change may be amplified, including heat (since urban areas are usually warmer than their surroundings), flooding from heavy precipitation events and sea level rise in coastal cities."
A map - collated by independent thinktank Climate Control - shows which parts the city will be below the annual flood level by 2030.
If the River Yare overflowed suburbs like Trowse and Riverside would be at risk.
Asher Minns, executive director of the UK-wide Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research - Credit: University of East Anglia
The danger zone is spreads outside of the immediate city boundary, along Yarmouth Road to Postwick.
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Asher Minns, executive director at Tyndall Centre for climate change, based at the University of East Anglia, said: "If new developments are being introduced it needs to take into consideration that those river levels could change dramatically and be at risk."
He added that the parts of Norwich at risk would resemble an estuary.
It comes after The Norwich Society held a debate at The Forum on April 23 to discuss how the crisis should be handled.
Willem Buttinger, event coordinator at the Norwich Society, said: "Climate change is obviously an issue which affects people on a global level.
Willem Buttinger, event organiser for The Norwich Society debate on April 23. - Credit: Willem Buttinger
"It comes to a point where global warming will accelerate so fast there's no chance to combat it."
Mr Minns added: "There's no scenario where there isn't a change to our climate.
"We're already noticing the impact of global warming with hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters.
"And because the sea takes such a long time to heat up and cool down, we're locked in at an increased sea level for the next thousand years.
"So even if we managed to stop all carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuels tomorrow the sea level would still rise."
Climate Control's map is collated based upon data from peer-reviewed scientific papers and research.
