Page - 36 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

36 peak of 31.3  °C measured at the airport on the southern periphery of the Greater Manchester urban area (Smith and Lawson 2012). Some of the excess deaths from past high temperature events in Greater Manchester are not only directly heat- related but also due to drownings from swimming in open waters and waterways as well as respiratory problems due to elevated air pollution concentrations and extremely high pollen counts (ibid.). Other impacts include from infrastructure damage and delay (road and rail), water restrictions and fires, both within the city and in the upland hinterlands (see Box 2.1). Box 2.1 Heat-Related Events and Their Impacts: Evidence from Summer 2018  in the Case Study Area Late June/early July 2018 saw a particularly long warm, dry period in Greater Manchester. Between 22 June and 6 July 2018 there were more than five con- secutive dry days with ten of those dry days seeing peak temperatures >25  °C.  This is compared with a longer-term June/July average of 64.5/67.3  mm rainfall, 9.7/11.7 rain days (>1  mm rain) and peak temperatures of 18.4/20.2  °C (1982–2010 averages) (Met Office 2018). At the time of writ- ing the event was ongoing, with a Level 3 Heatwave action issued and with the national meteorological office reporting a probable lack of rainfall lasting a month (Manchester Evening News 2018). Peak temperatures exceeded 30  °C (Fig.  2.6 (top)) and were certainly considerably higher in the city centre where there is no official meteorological station. The warm, dry conditions contributed to the development of a moorland fire on Saddleworth moor (near Oldham, Greater Manchester), which was so extreme that the army was called to assist fire fighters, schools were closed and local residents evacuated (BBC 2018). The resultant smoke was extensive and severe enough to trigger smoke alarms in buildings in Manchester city centre more than 15  km away (University of Manchester, pers. com.). At least two other large moorland fires on Bolton’s Winter Hill to the north of the city also affected an area greater than 10  km2 (BBC 2018). At least one industrial fire occurred in Rochdale to the north east of the conurbation. The combined effects of the fires, high temperatures and wind flows led to elevated air pol- lutant concentrations in terms of ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide (Fig.  2.6 (bottom)). All of these pollutants are regulated for public health. Although no evi- dence of health effects has yet emerged, it is highly likely that they occurred. Fig.  2.7 provides a rich picture of the expected links between ecosystems, human health and key climate-related indicators. S. J. Lindley et al.