Climate change experts warn of 'hidden silent ticking time bomb' ahead of Black Friday sales

Coastal erosion, sped up by the clime change, is exposing implicit 1,000 aged landfill sites that experts telephone "ticking clip bombs" - a stark reminder of our throwaway civilization up of Black Friday

A rotting oven, a discarded descend and a breached microwave are stuck into the broadside of the cliff - different illustration of however our throwaway civilization is causing different environmental catastrophe up of Black Friday sales.

While determination has been attraction connected the devastating impacts of coastal erosion, flooding and contamination crossed our coastline, experts pass determination has been small acknowledgement of the “hidden soundless ticking clip bombs” that these landfill sites present. There are astir 1,200 to 1,400 aged dumps dotted astir the British seashore posing a immense menace arsenic erosion - sped up by the climate crisis - threatens to exposure decades of rubbish to beryllium washed into the sea.

I went to Lyme Regis successful Dorset where a Victorian dump that closed successful the 1970s is present disgorging its contents to the oversea and leaching toxic chemicals - a information to marine wildlife and our bathing waters. As I locomotion connected the formation breached solid and ceramics crunch beneath my feet, portion a corroded car cogwheel strategy sticks retired from nether the rocks.

Alongside maine are hunters who nary longer conscionable find fossils connected this portion of the Jurassic Coast but observe Victorian metallic spoons, mendacious teeth, solid eyes and adjacent a Nazi constabulary work medal aft a large landslide occurred nether the tip. It is different reminder this Black Friday - which is expected to spot Brits splash retired £10bn adjacent weekend, that the things we bargain and past dispose of are ne'er truly thrown distant for bully - coming backmost to haunt america decades later.

Environment scientists and laminitis of One Home, Angela Terry said: “Climate alteration is speeding up coastal erosion truthful that crumbling cliffs are exposing rubbish successful tips that was dumped successful the content it was retired of show and retired of caput but it's sadly not true. The hazard to quality wellness and wildlife from discarded littering our shores and beloved beaches is huge.

"Even worse, determination isn't wealth for cash-strapped section authorities to forestall this catastrophe from happening each astir our seaside towns, arsenic is tackling this rubbish problem. There is nary magic achromatic spread to discard the objects bought successful erstwhile achromatic Fridays truthful conscious consumerism is essential.”

Professor Kate Spencer, an biology geochemist from the Queen Mary University of London, explained until the 1970s determination were astir nary rules astir what could beryllium enactment into landfill and fewer records were kept earlier the 1980s. Things changed successful the 1990s, with the EU landfill directive and the instauration successful the UK of the landfill tax. Kate said: "We present person 2 precise important biology problems colliding - our past over-consumption and our disposal of waste, coupled with clime change, oversea levels rising and coastal erosion.”

A caller study compiled by the Coastal Landfill Working Group warned that fixing the occupation is apt to outgo billions, and section authorities, who present ain astir of the sites, bash not person the backing adjacent if enforcement enactment was taken against them. It recommended urgent enactment to guarantee backing is allocated to mitigating risks from coastal landfills. For landfills presently successful operation, it suggests a “landfill levy” to halt imaginable aboriginal pollution.

“The risks of doing thing are excessively large to disregard and the imaginable impacts connected the earthy situation volition beryllium disastrous unless backing tin beryllium recovered to tackle the situation of erstwhile coastal landfill eroding oregon leaching retired onto England’s coastline,” said Cllr Simon Martin from the group.

Mark Stratton, Local Government Association pb for Coastal Landfill and Coastal Manager astatine Coastal Partners, added: “Many sites astir the state are fronted by failing defences oregon successful immoderate cases ne'er had defences successful beforehand of them successful the archetypal place. I genuinely anticipation that this substance gets the attraction from the authorities that it deserves successful bid to debar biology catastrophe successful the adjacent future.”