Climate: 200 measures to prepare to live with 2 or 3 degrees more
Faced with the inevitable global warming expected by the end of the century, France has adopted a national adaptation plan to limit the impacts on agriculture, water, health, and even littoral.
"We know that the movement is inevitable and the responsibility of the State is to prevent vulnerability" underlined the Minister of Ecology, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, by presenting the 80 actions declined in more than 230 measures and recommendations to put implemented by 2015.
Associated with the development of the plan, the climatologist Jean Jouzel, vice-president of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC), "hesitated" to engage with his scientific committee because he feared that before the adaptation "masks the need to fight against greenhouse gases (GHG)".
But, whatever the "uncertainties" about the evolution of the climate and the amplitude of the changes, "the certainties are sufficient to take action", he added.
The adaptation plan is based on scenarios established by Météo France and the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute projecting an increase in average temperature in France from 2 to 3,5 degrees by the end of the XNUMXst century.
These scenarios predict an extension of summer drought periods and new heat records, especially in the south-eastern quarter of the country. "The number of heatwave days could be multiplied by five", according to Mr. Jouzel.
Four major axes were favored: water, health, regional planning and forests.
"The economy is still the best use of water (...) and the plan aims to reduce consumption by 20% by 2020", recalled the Minister of Ecology, taking up an idea launched during the exceptional drought in May.
Avoiding leaks in drinking water networks, responsible for 25% of losses, reusing treated wastewater and improving the performance of the cooling towers of nuclear power plants are other planned measures.
In terms of health, the temperature increases will favor the development of insects, micro-organisms that produce toxins and allergenic pollen. The creation of a health and climate watch group should alert the public authorities to critical situations.
The French Allergy Observation Committee (CFOA), speaking on behalf of the "16 million French people who suffer from allergies and who too often feel they are not being heard", insisted that the plan be translated into " concrete measures ".
In addition, "rail and road infrastructure and housing construction, all these works must last at least 50 years, they must therefore be adapted" to climate change.
The plan plans to modify the design and construction standards to reflect this. For example, for the coast, the risk of submersion, with the expected rise in sea level, will be included in the hazard prevention plans for these areas.
Learning from the heat wave of 2003, there will be new standards on the summer comfort of new housing, among others.
As for the forest threatened by drought and more frequent forest fires, "we will have to diversify the genetic resources of tree species to better adapt the French forest park", according to NKM.
A budget of 171 million euros will be dedicated to the new measures, to which are added 391 million for future investments.
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