The Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) has now launched. Featuring as one of BlueAdapt’s case studies, the innovative tool supports local decision makers in understanding:
- How local climates will change
- What health and community impacts may occur as a result
- Who will be most vulnerable and why
- Which adaptations to consider
Access the tool online and select your area on the map to get started: www.lcat.uk
Making the latest climate science accessible to decision makers
As the world warms, increased temperatures and extreme weather events have severe implications for services ranging from emergency services to highway maintenance and social care. Climate science is complex and hard to navigate and it can be difficult to understand implications for specific fields and how best to avoid the worst impacts. The new tool makes the latest climate science accessible to decision makers in these fields and more, allowing them to plan for the future to provide the best services possible in a changing landscape.
The Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) has been developed by a team from the University of Exeter and Cornwall Council (UK), with input from more than 50 other local authority areas across the UK. Decision-makers involved in the development include councils, health and emergency services. LCAT has been designed to help local organisations increase their adaptation response to local climate change, something a recent government report describes as having ‘failed to keep pace with the worsening reality of climate risk.’
Associate Professor Emma Bland from the BlueAdapt team explains:
“Our colleagues in local councils, NHS Trusts and other local services were clear that to support action they needed a tool that is easy to use and understand, that provides local climate predictions, that supports their understanding of the impact that these changes have on local people -especially those most vulnerable- and provides recommendations for action. All underpinned by evidence.
“LCAT responds by bringing the evidence to those who need it in a user-friendly way. It pulls together the best available data to provide local climate forecasts and provides the evidence in layers – giving summary overviews and then increasingly more detailed insights to meet the needs of different users. It also links users out to more specialist tools if additional detailed insights are needed. Significantly for decision-makers, LCAT also makes recommendations about the types of adaptation that should be considered, with the ultimate goal of supporting a multi-agency approach to building resilient and healthy communities.”
The LCAT tool is essential as temperatures rise
It has been widely reported that 2023 shattered global annual heat records and 2024 may even surpass the key 1.5C warming threshold across the entire calendar year for the first time, according to the UK Met Office. As the impacts of climate change are felt across societies, the urgent need to adapt is raising the political and public agenda and that makes tools like LCAT essential.
Chris Stark, Chief Executive of The Climate Change Committee, which advises the UK government on tackling and preparing for climate change, states:
“Global warming can no longer be described as a future event and from flooding to heatwaves, the consequences are increasingly apparent. Local adaptation to climate change is vitally important and is not making the progress we need to ensure the resilience of local communities. Tools such as the Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) are a vital resource to support our local decision makers take urgent action to address our already changing climate and help towards reducing further impact.”
Join a free webinar to learn how the LCAT tool works
A free webinar to learn how the tool was created, how it works, and how to start using it to better to understand the impacts of climate will be held on 26th March. Sign up here Webinar: Supporting local climate adaptation and health using LCAT Tickets, Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 14:00 | Eventbrite
For more information or requests for an interview, please contact:
- Mail: p.mina@exeter.ac.uk
- Tel: 07967712689
LCAT is being developed in a staged approach, additional features are planned and improvements will be made with feedback from users. The University of Exeter and Cornwall Council team will continue to work with partners to review and improve the national platform on an ongoing basis to provide the best available information and evidence to those making critical decisions for their communities.
