Local Climate Impacts
What's the project?
Scotland Northern Ireland Forum for Environment
Research (SNIFFER) ran a pilot project on behalf of the
Scottish Climate Change Impacts Partnership (SCCIP) on Local
Climate Impact Profiles (LCIP). Perth & Kinross
Council was one of the four pilot authorities in the project,
which ran between March and September 2008.
What is an LCLIP?
A Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP) is a resource that Local
Authorities can draw together in order to understand their exposure
to severe weather events and the effects of changes in weather
patterns for their locality.
What is the idea behind it?
The idea of an LCLIP is to provide a framework for compiling
information about weather events and impacts on local
authority services. Until now (and with some exceptions) we have
not routinely required information about weather patterns for
service and resource planning. Nor has past weather been recorded
and analysed as a matter of course. The weather has largely been a
backdrop to our services and activities. As weather events become
more intrusive, their effects need to be understood and prepared
for in order that we can continue to deliver high quality services
in Perth and Kinross.
What information will it be based on?
The Perth & Kinross LCLIP is based on information about severe
weather events and their consequences in the region and in
particular on our assets, services, staff and responsibilities over
the period 2002 to 2007. The information in the first instance
will come from media sources.
Why use media sources?
Gathering news reports from local media sources is a relatively
easy way of starting an LCLIP and obtaining information that is not
routinely recorded by most local authorities. Newspaper stories
provided a starting point for:
- exploring the effects of severe weather on the Council
and Perth & Kinross more generally, and
for
- investigating more complex weather and climate data
sources.
When developing the concept, UKCIP envisaged that an LCLIP would
include information on Council practices that have altered as a
result of more gradual weather changes, for example, with increases
in average temperatures and changed rainfall patterns which can
result in extensions to the growing season. Whilst many of our
frontline staff have noticed these changes, it is difficult to
find consistent and long-term records of activities (i.e. outings
of gritting lorries, increased frequency of grass cutting or
reduced heating bills) that reflect such changes in operational
practice. The LCLIP will help us identify those changes and
establish a means of monitoring them in the future.
How many stages are there in the process?
There are four stages to assembling an LCLIP:
Stage one: to research journalistic sources
Stage two: to explore with Council staff the
consequences of weather events and responses to it
Stage three: to assemble relevant information
about future weather and climate and the impacts on services
Stage four: to make historical
comparisons
What stage have you reached?
We have completed the LCLIP and a summary of it is available to
download from this page.
