You don’t have to be a daily forecast follower to see that weather patterns are shifting. Our headlines now regularly feature one-in-one-hundred-year weather events and rising temperature predictions. The question on most of our minds has shifted from ‘Who’s to blame for this climate change mess we are in?’, to ‘What do I do with the reports I’m reading?’
The Ministry for the Environment and Statistics NZ has recently produced Our atmosphere and climate 2020 report. The New Zealand report observes changes to seasons, warming average winter temperatures, increased extreme rainfall and heatwave days, and fewer frost days across the sites monitored, with changes projected to intensify. The details can be found here.
But what does it all mean and how will climate variability and change affect our businesses and investments?
As our climate changes, monitoring of variables such as water level and flow, water quality, rainfall, soil moisture, solar radiation, temperature and relative humidity, wind, and dust becomes increasingly more important for consent monitoring compliance, health and safety, and optimising weather-related operational decisions.
Environmental monitoring on your site, might be about gaining consent or meeting regulations, but we all have a role to play in responsible decision making. The key aspect is, measure now so that when you need to act you can do so from an informed and empowered position. The word ‘resilience’ has had much airtime in 2020. With careful planning and having the information you need ahead of when it is needed, you can reduce impact, operating expenses and be more resilient. In the summary of Our atmosphere and climate 2020, it states: “Flexible, innovative plans need to be adjustable as the future plays out … An improved understanding of how our climate is likely to change and the effects of those changes (particularly at local and regional scales) can help us be more resilient.”
Kaitiakitanga of our natural assets is important to us as a business and as individuals. To facilitate our role in kaitiakitanga we continually invest in smart tools and systems to deliver smart solutions.
As a growing and important part of our service delivery, BTW’s Environmental Specialists are designing and deploying environmental monitoring solutions across a diverse range of applications. As a result, our clients can make informed decisions and play a kaitaiki role for our natural environment.
To find out more about BTW’s streamlined environmental monitoring and how it can reduce operating expenses, click here. Or check the Environmental Services section of our website.