THE FUTURE?

Nature can adapt to the occasional year of extreme weather. But some experts are concerned about the context in which such extremes occur. “We’re getting these wild swings in weather. Birds will adapt if you give them time, but if we keep getting these extremes some species won’t be able to cope,” warns Paul Stancliffe of the BTO. But as Andrew Whitehouse, south-west manager for Buglife, points out, the effects of the extreme weather are compounded by other elements. “What makes it more difficult for wildlife is the intensive use to which we put the countryside. Much of the countryside and its habitats are disconnected. Nature can cope with the occasional local extinction of a species, say from an area of moorland, because normally that species would return soon enough from similar habitats nearby. That’s not always the case now. The more damaged the countryside is, the less nature is able to recover.”

Stocking up feeders in harsh winters helps, explains Jon Traill, and there are other ways we can support wildlife. “We can create wild areas in our gardens; put out water in the heat,” he says. “But there’s only so much we can do. We are trying to mitigate things over which we have very little control. Climate change doesn’t just mean hot summers. It means fluctuating extremes of weather.”

A point that Grahame Madge, the MET Office’s senior press officer, underlines. “This year’s swings of weather may leave a legacy in the wildlife record for years to come. You can’t assume that extremes of weather are caused by climate change, but a changing climate makes new extremes more likely.”