England will be experiencing a breakthrough in the fuel sector with the fracking for shale to begin this year. The Yorkshire and Lancashire wells are due to be drilled this summer. With just 17% in favor of fracking more protests are expected. Another major cause of concern would be the Brexit negotiations that can be a threat to farming subsidies, animal welfare, GM foods, air and water pollution. If there would be a roll back of the environmental regulations then protests may emerge.
Statistics has it that air pollution kills nearly 50,000 people every year in Britain. Therefore this will be an important agenda for the government with the courts seeking a new plan to comply with the EU legal controls. A draft is likely to be published in the month of April that will completely fund the clean air zones in important cities, set up strict regulations for vehicle pollution and also encourage cycling and walking. London is expected to join the pledge for banning diesel vehicles for the next few years. This is a movement to eradicate fossil fuel within the next 3 decades.
Again the global climate this year will be dominated by the new presidential elect Donald Trump as he withdraws from the Paris global agreement to contain emissions. Trump has appointed intellectuals to be responsible for monitoring climate change and this is likely to increase the coal, gas and oil production. If US is out of the Paris deal, China will lead giving room to diplomatic damage. In this connect many climate scientists in the US are likely to lose a major chunk of research grants.
In the year 2017, a weak La Nina is expected to cool the Pacific Ocean waters. This is expected to bring about good rainfall and make the temperature cool. However, 2017 is likely to bring in more wildlife losses even as more animals are under the IUCN red lists and action being taken on illegal trade.
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