The new normal: how weather whiplash is shaping our lives

A series of three enlightening short talks uncovering the technology helping us overcome the severe impacts of changing weather systems, presented by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

It feels like there's no such thing as a normal year anymore; it's either too wet or too dry, and we seem to go from drought to floods and back again within the space of a few months, which we call 'weather whiplash'. Floods and droughts cause crop failures, destroy homes, and make taps run dry.

Climate models suggest we need to get used to it, adapting our food systems and the way we use water, but the impacts to the same events seem so different in different parts of the country. Why does the same amount of rain cause flooding in one place but not another? Why does a dry spell cause a drought in one year but not the next? It's because of the hidden hydrology that shapes our landscapes.

Join scientists from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to uncover the secret memories of past weather that landscapes hold, ask what the future looks like as rainfall, droughts and other weather, become more extreme, and discover the actions we can all take to protect one of life's most precious resources. They'll explore the new technologies which are reshaping our understanding of not just our changing climate, but the impact it has on our lives.

This talk is presented in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.