Climate change: Water shortage fears in Scotland are yet another sign we need to take global warming more seriously – Scotsman comment

The warnings just keep on coming. Last month we were being told to start thinking of water as a “precious” resource amid fears of shortages.

Now an emergency scheme has been announced by the Scottish Government to provide bottled water to households in the event that supplies run out this summer.

Scottish Water is also assessing whether the public water supply can be extended to homes with private wells, which are more vulnerable to shortages.

Dry weather over winter and spring is also posing a threat to crops, the whisky industry and hydro-electric energy schemes, and concerns are growing with each week that passes without significant rain.

Environment Minister Mairi McAllan made the increasingly obvious connection, saying: “It is clear that climate change is affecting Scotland and the availability of water. In recent times, prolonged dry weather has resulted in many private supplies running dry much earlier in the year, causing distress and hardship to households and businesses across Scotland, particularly in rural communities.”

If even parts of Scotland, a country globally famous for its rain, is running out of water, one might think that taking real action to combat climate change would be uncontroversial.

And yet too many politicians remain strangely resistant to attempts to make the significant changes to our economy and way of life that are necessary if the carbon emissions that are causing global warming are to be reduced. The fact that becoming a net-zero country would also benefit our economy makes this doubly foolish.

All over the world, climate scientists’ predictions are coming true. When are we going to start to truly realise just how much trouble we are in?