The River Calder flooded this weekend, days after fires on the peatlands above. The government said it would ban the practice but it has done nothingLast Friday, campaigners in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, issued an urgent warning. The peat bogs on a grouse shooting estate, in the hills that drain into their valley, were on fire. The burning of peatlands, research suggests, is likely to exacerbate floods downstream. Towns in the Calder Valley such as Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd have been flooded repeatedly - partly, local people argue, because the higher parts of the catchment can now hold back very little of the rain that falls on them..On Sunday Storm Ciara landed in the UK. The River Calder rose higher than ever before, and the three towns duly flooded. The next day the environment secretary, Theresa Villiers, made a statement in the House of Commons expressing her "support and sympathy to all those whose homes or businesses have been flooded". She assured the House that "every effort is being made to keep people safe". But she said nothing about the land management that might have caused the flood. Continue reading...
If we want to cut flooding we should stop burning the moorland | George Monbiot
11. února 2020 19:45
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Celý článek: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/11/flooding-moorland-river-calder-flooded-peatlands
Zdroj: The Guardian