From the sky, Nick Lupton's Worcestershire, England, home looks like an island surrounded by muddy water.
Here's the thing — no island should exist on his property, located next to the River Severn. But Lupton's land has flooded 11 times since 2016, according to CBS News, prompting the inventive homeowner to build a protective wall around his 17th-century house.
It's an example of the inventive measures that are becoming more common as property owners try to elude flooding and other weather-related damage from ever-likelier intense storms.
"We had, I think it was nine floods, before we decided to build a wall," Lupton said, per the CBS story.
What's happening?
Lupton's wall surrounds his $765,000 home, which is on an acre of land. He and his wife dedicated months to building the barrier after tiring from repeated flood cleanups, per CBS News.
"Thankfully it did what it was supposed to do," Lupton said. "It passed the test."
However, while the wall has proven effective thus far, it's likely to continue to be tested. Progressively warmer and 30% wetter winters are forecast in the United Kingdom within the next five decades, CBS noted, citing the country's Met Office as the source.
"Heavy rainfall is also more likely," officials from the Met, quoted in the CBS story, said. "Since 1998, the U.K. has seen six of the 10 wettest years on record."
Why is it important?
Weather experts can't link every flood to our overheating planet, but researchers from NASA report that heat-trapping air pollution is increasing the risk for more intense storms.
What's more, scientists who studied more than 1,000 weather "events" from 2001-21 told PBS that burning dirty energy sources like oil, coal, and gas "and other human activity" caused floods and droughts to intensify during the last two decades.
"I was surprised to see how well correlated the global intensity was with global mean temperatures," Matthew Rodell, a deputy director at NASA, told PBS.
Earth's temperature has risen by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1850. To avoid worst-case perils, experts claim the planet's average temperature can't surpass pre-industrial times by 2.7 degrees, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
What can be done to help?
Like Lupton, savvy homeowners can protect their dwellings with weather-proof tech. A company in the U.K. even has a jack system that lifts homes above flood waters.
If you are considering a move, learning about how warming temperatures are predicted to impact your new digs can help you avoid headaches and high insurance costs, if your move is to an area prone to floods.
Switching to cleaner energy for your home, using battery-powered lawn equipment, and ditching single-use coffee pods are all ways to help reduce warming air pollution and plastic waste and even to save money.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
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