Climate-change migrants 'could increase city's social problems'

Heat-buckled rail tracks, an increase in diseases and poor air quality are other issues the city may encounter as a result of rising temperatures and extreme weather.

But it is not all negative as a report into the potential impact of climate change highlights a number of benefits it could bring, including a longer growing season for farmers, an increase in tourism in Hull and the East Riding, more green collar jobs in the renewable energy sector, and an increase in participation of outdoor leisure activities.

It is assumed that rising temperatures and harsher living conditions would drive people out of sub-Saharan Africa and southern Europe into cooler northern regions, leading to more competition for resources there.

Report author Martin Budd, environment and climate change adviser for the city council and One Hull, said: "While there are likely to be challenges there are also lots of opportunities because of where we are in the UK.

"The problems are not likely to be as significant as in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Europe."

Mr Budd said even if people were sceptical about the role of human activity in causing climate change, it still made sense to be more efficient.

He said: "The scientific evidence is certainly there, but a lot of the issues around reducing carbon emissions and reducing energy consumption are good for businesses and good for individuals because it means we are paying less money.

"There are only so many resources available on planet earth and we have to use them sustainably."

The predictions are made in a climate change strategy for the next 10 years that was approved by Hull Council's Cabinet yesterday.

It sets a target of reducing carbon emissions in the city by 34 per cent by 2020, in line with national commitments.

To achieve this it needs to achieve a reduction of 2.77 per cent each year.

The strategy will now go before the executive board of One Hull on November 29, and an action plan outlining how the council will meet its objectives is expected to be completed by May.

One of the most immediate responses will be the formation next year of a city-wide carbon emission reporting scheme, which will be done through the public-private sector partnership One Hull.

The report said Hull faces "significant" challenges in meeting the impacts of climate change, but it starts out in a relatively better position than all its Yorkshire rivals in terms of its carbon footprint, which is smaller than other towns and cities, and the regional and national average.

Based on data for 2000, Hull produced 10.74 tonnes per resident compared to a UK average of 11.8 tonnes per person.

Writing in the report's introduction city council leader and One Hull chairman Carl Minns said: "Climate change is the biggest single threat to our ambitions for Hull expressed in the community strategy.

"Climate change, reducing natural resource availability over the next 100 years, will fundamentally change the way we do business as a city and will affect every area of the city's life from what we teach our children in school, the environment that they play in, and the jobs and opportunities that they are able to pursue."

He added: "This strategy requires all of us as residents, communities and businesses to understand how we are affecting the climate and then take action.

" It is not just a collective responsibility but also a personal responsibility. We hope you will join is in tackling climate change because tomorrow's climate is today's challenge."

The devastating summer floods of 2007 are an example of the sort of extreme weather event the city is being warned about.