When the Lake District Runs Dry
There are few places in Britain where drought seems less likely than in the Lake District. Rain is part of its identity. After all, Borrowdale, in the northern Lake District, is the wettest inhabited place in England. Water pours from the fells, gathers in becks and tarns and fills the lakes. On many winter days it seems to emerge from the hillside itself. I have walked past dry stone walls that act like horizontal showers. I have even seen a fish shot sky high from an aquifer, perishing when it hit a nearby road.
It is why what I have been seeing on my land - the area is called Rough Sides - during the summer of 2026 has been so striking. The land comprises approximately 60 hectares of fellside, woodland, bracken, grassland, rock and wet ground near Ambleside. Scandale Beck runs north to south along its western boundary while the path to the summit of Red Screes runs in the same direction along its eastern boundary. This latter thoroughfare, once an old turbary path called Snakey Moss Lane, was used by our forefathers to gather peat. Turbary was the ancient legal right to cut turf, or peat, for fuel on a particular area of bog, and dates to at least medieval times. My land is unquestionably a piece of history, however damp and overgrown it may look.
However, this summer I have watched Scandale Beck become shallow, while the young trees I recently planted have shown signs of leaf stress. Ground that is usually wet has become dry. Sheep, that are said not to eat bracken, and in earlier times I have seen evade the plant completely, now disappear into the bracken during the hottest parts of the day. They seek its shade. Even my wooden gates have reacted to the heat. I spent many hours repairing them and installing new catches, several months ago, when the weather was cooler and more humid. Now, thanks to the dehydration and shrinkage of wood, the latches do not always work. The occasional gate is thus left open, in comes the livestock, and with that there follow three days of work to chase the livestock off.
None of these things, considered individually, is dramatic. Taken together, they create a problem. There is a simple question, but an unclear answer. That is, what happens to an upland landscape when the climate for which its ecology, farming practices and infrastructure are designed, begins to change? Farmers globally are facing this dilemma right now.
An exceptional summer
One hot summer does not prove climate change any more than one wet week disproves it. However, measurements taken over decades are now unequivocal. According to the Met Office, the UK has been warming at approximately 0.25°C/decade since the 1980s. The decade 2016 to 2025 was 0.51°C warmer than 1991 to 2020, and 1.33°C warmer than 1961 to 1990.[i] The summer of 2026 thus matters not because it demonstrates climate change by itself, but because it is occurring against an already warming background.
The water situation has also been remarkable. By the third week of July, the Environment Agency reported that 84% of its river-flow indicator sites across England were below normal. Reservoir storage had fallen to 75.3%, which is 7.4% below the long-term average. Soil moisture deficits in several regions were at record levels for that stage of July.[ii]
Yet the Lake District illustrates why rainfall statistics should be interpreted carefully. North-West England actually received 125% of its long-term-average rainfall during June 2026. River flows in Cumbria were consequently normal to exceptionally high during that month, with the River Esk at Cropple How recording 257% of its long-term-average June flow.[iii] Cropple How is in the western Lake District, very near to Muncaster Fell.
Rainfall totals describe how much rain has fallen over a particular period. They do not say whether that water arrived steadily, whether it fell in a few large events, how quickly it left the catchment, or how much remained available to vegetation weeks later. For a landowner-cum-manager such as me, that distinction matters enormously.
A disappearing beck
Scandale Beck, which is my western boundary, is a clear indicator of what has been happening. It is a beck that normally gives an impression of limitless movement. Yet despite this, it can suddenly appear vulnerable. There is less water, more exposed stone and less of the turbulence and unpredictability associated with an upland stream.
When a stream flows slowly, this is not solely an aesthetic change. As streams become shallower and slower, they warm more easily. Warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen, and reduced flow alters nutrient and pollutant levels. In this way, drought can change freshwater communities and affect aquatic plants, invertebrates and fish.
A beck is not just a habitat, it can also be a supply of water to vegetation nearby. That assumption changes during drought. For example, one of my recently planted trees stands approximately 100 metres from the nearest stream. One hundred metres does not sound far. Yet on steep, rough ground it becomes considerable when water has to be transported manually. When the stream itself is extremely shallow, removing water from it is difficult or impossible. The tree is suddenly water-deprived.
I have dug swales around many of my newer trees and am glad to have done so. I borrowed the idea of swales from the African Sahel. They are sometimes called Zai pits and are designed to spread and sink rainwater directly into a tree’s root zone. They capture surface runoff during intense, brief rainstorms, and can collect up to 1000 litres of water each. They prevent evaporation by forcing water deep into the subsoil and gather windblown leaves and topsoil. This creates a highly fertile local environment.
Young trees under stress
The most worrying effects of the summer have been with the trees planted during the past year. The tree planters have long since gone home, believing their job is complete. Far from it. Some leaves have now curled, browned, spotted or are otherwise showing evidence of stress. This is so-called leaf stress. Inside several of my tree guards, be they wood or metal cage, vigorous bracken has competed with the young tree for light and water. I remove the bracken with my Austrian scythe, keeping a good metre of bracken-free space around the tree and its guard. Sadly, I cannot replace weeks of missing rain quite so easily. Forest Research specifically warns that the risk of losing newly planted stock increases as spring and summer conditions become drier. Unless adequate water and suitable ground conditions are available, of course.[iv]
This is important because establishment is a very vulnerable stage in the life of a tree. A mature tree possesses a root system extending through a substantial volume of soil. A newly planted tree does not. Nursery-grown stock may have undergone lifting, transport and transplantation before being asked to survive the first dry summer. Each action is another stress. Water shortage is therefore not simply a matter of a tree becoming temporarily thirsty. It is enough to kill a young tree. Way up a fellside that may be difficult to spot, so it is critical to be on one’s guard.
Plants lose water through transpiration. As soil dries, trees close their stomata, thereby reducing water loss. Stomata are microscopic pores mostly found on the undersides of plant leaves and stems. They act as tiny mouths that let plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, while also managing water loss through evaporation. However, stomata closure can also restrict photosynthesis. Under severe drought, the water-conducting system within a tree itself can fail. This so-called hydraulic failure is one of the major mechanisms implicated in drought-related tree death.[v]
Even a tree that survives can suffer. Growth may be reduced, and drought can contribute to crown dieback and increase the tree’s vulnerability to other stresses. The dry summer of 2026 is thus only the beginning. Many of the problems it has created will not be properly visible until 2027 or 2028. It is very easy to fool oneself into thinking that a tree is doing well, when the real problems lie ahead. A spotted leaf today can be a dead tree tomorrow.
The aspen dilemma
I had hoped to plant at least 20 aspens towards the end of this year. There are several aspen species available, but Populus tremula was my choice. There is something about the fluttering, yellow leaves that excites me. The aspen is also an important host for bryophytes and a tremendous food plant for the larvae of some butterflies. It is brilliant for biodiversity. Yet, I am now wondering whether I should plant them at all, especially when I look at the possible weather forecast as far ahead as mid-2027.
Meteorologists and climate agencies, including the World Meteorological Organization, forecast that 2027 could be one of the hottest years on record globally. This high heat is expected because of the combined effects of long-term climate change and a strengthening El Niño pattern building through late 2026 and persisting into 2027.[vi]
The question is not whether aspen belongs in the British uplands. It does. Nor is it whether trees should continue to be planted as the climate changes. In many places, trees will themselves be an important component of climate adaptation. The problem is establishment, and I am seeing that now. Planting is one thing, establishment is another. Planting 20 bare-root trees creates 20 additional plants that may require help if spring and summer 2027 are hot and dry. On Rough Sides, which is hard enough to climb on a good day, transporting water is difficult, so I must do the best I can with what is already there, and import as little as possible.
Forest Research makes an interesting observation in its climate-adaptation guidance. Bare-root trees need to be lifted and planted during dormancy, but increasingly mild winters can restrict this period. Cell-grown stock can be planted over a longer period and may have better survival in dry conditions. Cell-grown tree stock consists of young saplings grown in individual vertical compartments or trays filled with compost rather than in the open ground. When removed, the intact roots and growing medium form a self-contained plug that protects the root system from drying out and reduces transplant shock. In addition, several of the trees that I have planted were locally grown, so I dug them up with their soil, wrapped them in hessian using twine, and planted the whole lot in my chosen location on Rough Sides. They are doing well. Bare root plantings are thus beginning to worry me.
Forest Research also suggests changing the planting season, species choice, controlling competing vegetation, using mulch on dry sites and considering irrigation where practical. As climate change brings hotter, drier summers and unpredictable weather, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) advises shifting tree planting from traditional spring windows to early autumn. Autumn is the new spring. Planting in autumn allows young trees to use residual summer soil warmth and autumn rains to establish strong roots before the next heatwave.[vii]
For Rough Sides, irrigation on any conventional scale is not practical. The sensible response may be restraint. Instead of planting 20 aspens this winter, I might plant none. I am battling with my conscience right now, before I place my order. There is nothing ecologically virtuous about planting 20 trees if a substantial proportion subsequently dies because the site cannot allow them to establish.
Sheep in the bracken
The sheep, which are far more intelligent than I once thought, have been providing their own commentary on the weather. On hot days I have watched them shelter among the bracken, even though they detest the plant. I have never yet seen a sheep eat bracken.
Normally I regard bracken as a management problem. It competes with young trees, obscures the ground, complicates access, harbours ticks, takes me forever to scythe, throws up spores that can cause cancer, and can dominate large areas. Yet during a heatwave bracken acquires another function - it creates shade.
Research in a temperate climate demonstrated that sheep actively use shade during hot weather. In a 2024 study, sheep with shade available used it during 26% of daytime observations.[viii] Access to shade improved welfare. Animals without shade experienced more days with high respiration rates. So, bracken may not be all bad, even though I hate it. Personally, I have long regarded it as a dangerous pest but may have to modify my opinion.
Highland cattle in the heat
The same principle applies to cattle. A systematic review and meta-analysis from 2024 examined 31 studies involving 6729 feedlot cattle.[ix] Feedlot cattle are beef animals kept in large, organised pens and fed a high-energy, grain-based diet to gain weight quickly before going to market. They represent the final stage of beef production, turning grass-raised calves into market-ready meat. In this particular study, access to effective shade reduced the respiratory rate and improved measures of animal performance compared with cattle exposed to full sun.
Highland cattle are not feedlot cattle, and it would be wrong to transfer experimental thresholds directly to them. Their heavy coat, breed characteristics and the conditions of an upland Cumbrian fell are very different. Nevertheless, the underlying principle is clear - shade matters.
Woodland edges, mature trees, scrub and perhaps even dense bracken are therefore not simply types of vegetation. During periods of high temperature, they become part of the thermal landscape available to animals.
Roe deer and heat
Roe deer are frequent visitors to Rough Sides. They try hard not to be seen, but I nevertheless do see them. Their response to heat is less conspicuous than that of sheep because they can move readily between habitats. That mobility is important.
A deer does not have to remain on an exposed slope. It can enter woodland, rest in shade and adjust its activity according to temperature. Woodland therefore provides more than food and physical cover. It provides a microclimate of which a deer can take advantage. A numerical air temperature recorded at a weather station, and presented on the evening news, does not describe what an animal experiences beneath a hazel canopy, beside a stone wall, shaded by tall vegetation, or next to a felltop stream.
Badgers in dry weather
Badgers spend much of the day underground, which gives them access to a relatively stable thermal environment. Underground is very different to above ground in a heatwave. Take the Amish air conditioner as an example.[x] This is a low-tech passive cooling system using buried earth tubes (ground pipes) four to six feet deep. It pulls outdoor air through 50-100 feet of pipe, cooling it via constant earth temperatures to naturally air-condition homes for pennies each year. Approximately 15-30 feet underground, the temperature of the soil stays remarkably constant, irrespective of what may be happening on the surface. However, even at a depth of two feet, the daily range rarely exceeds 1°F.[xi] Heat above ground is therefore only part of the story.
Drought also affects a badger’s food. Earthworms are an important component of the animal’s diet, and their availability near the soil surface depends strongly upon moisture. When it rains, earthworms come to or near the surface. When it is dry they go deeper down. If the dryness continues, they tie themselves into a tight knot and go into a deep sleep called estivation. They cover themselves in slime to stay wet until rain returns.
A research study from Oxford compared badger activity during a relatively dry year with a wetter year.[xii] The mean nocturnal activity was approximately 9.5 hours in the drier year compared with 8.3 hours in the wetter year, when comparable dates were considered. More activity, however, did not necessarily mean better feeding. However, the research did show that drier weather, and warmer days, obliged badgers to be nocturnally active for longer. They were adapting to the changing weather.
Hares in the heat
Brown hares are another example of behavioural change. A 2023 study looked at more than 1.2 million accelerometer measurements from 33 GPS-collared European hares.[xiii] Temperature, humidity and wind all influenced activity. Responses became particularly marked at temperatures above 25°C, with the greatest changes during temperature extremes over 35°C.
Rabbits, stoats and hedgehogs
For rabbits, stoats and hedgehogs, it is harder to attach numerical temperature thresholds. Good field evidence is sparse. Rabbits have an advantage, however, as with badgers, because they can retreat underground. A rabbit’s burrow provides a buffered microclimate that does not exist on the surface.
Less evidence is available for stoats and hedgehogs. However, it is true that a stoat can exploit dense vegetation, walls and other cover. Whenever I have seen a stoat, it is always dashing and trying hard not to be seen. A stoat typically drinks very little standing water because it gets almost all its daily hydration directly from the blood and raw meat of its prey. Because of their extremely fast metabolism, stoats must eat up to 33% of their own body weight in food every day (roughly 50 grams of meat for an average adult). This high-protein, moisture-rich diet of fresh rodents and rabbits keeps them naturally hydrated without the frequent need to visit watering holes.
Hedgehogs never dash, in my experience, but there is again little research available to say what might happen to them in a heatwave. What is true, however, is that the heat and drought affect the invertebrates on which hedgehogs feed and also reduce available drinking water. It would be surprising if hedgehogs were unaffected. An adult hedgehog typically drinks 25- 40 mls (about 1.5 to 2.5 tablespoons) of water each night. Meanwhile, young, growing hoglets drink significantly more water than adults, sometimes consuming up to 60mls (4 tablespoons) in a single night.
Birds and water
Birds are also affected. Their normal body temperatures are generally higher than those of mammals, and are often around 40°C. For reference, the normal human body temperature is 37°C. For birds, as environmental temperature approaches body temperature, it becomes harder to lose metabolic heat. Evaporative cooling then becomes critical, which requires water.
Research on birds in hot environments has shown how rapidly this can become limiting. Increases in extreme temperatures elevate the evaporative water requirements of small birds by up to 200%.[xiv] These data are from hot desert systems, so it is difficult to transfer them to, say, a wren or willow warbler in Cumbria. However, the physiological principle is important. Heat increases the value of water and shade.
A small bird such as a finch or robin drinks about 15 ml of water each day and usually visits a water source twice daily. Larger birds require more, with pigeons drinking about 50 ml daily. The much larger ostrich, interestingly, does not have a set daily water intake. It can go without drinking any free-standing water for days or even months, acquiring all the moisture it needs from the plants and seeds it eats. When water is available, and it chooses to drink, it can consume up to 9 litres at a time. Sadly, an ostrich in Africa is not a robin in Cumbria. The two birds are enormously different.
On my land in prolonged hot weather, Scandale Beck, the general woodland, stream margins and wet flushes are important refuges. For reference, a wet flush is an ecological and hydrological term for a marshy, boggy area on a hillside or slope. It is where underground groundwater seeps or flows diffusely to the surface. A wet flush is a nutrient-rich zone, and often supports specialised plants such as sedges, rushes, and mosses.
Small wet places
Large lakes and rivers are easy to value, but small water sources are simpler to overlook.
An example is a seep emerging from a bank, or a permanently damp hollow, perhaps a shaded pool beside a beck, or a patch of waterlogged ground that may occupy only a few square metres. During drought, the ecological importance of these smaller areas can become disproportionate to their size. For reference, a seep (seepage) is a highly permanent, slow, and diffuse discharge of pure groundwater that gently saturates a broad area of soil without creating a defined channel.
The same is true of shade. For example, a single tree may alter the conditions beneath it. I see that all around me on my land. A strip of woodland creates a cooler edge, bracken shades the ground, a dry-stone wall creates different exposures on its two sides and provides cavities for invertebrates and small mammals. Small areas can be critical.
When wooden gates shrink
My land has several wooden gates, some big and some small. There is no better symbol of the effects of hot weather than to look at a wooden gate. A gate that opens and closes seamlessly in winter ceases to do so when it is hot. This is because wood is hygroscopic and exchanges moisture with the surrounding atmosphere. As relative humidity and temperature change, so does the moisture content of timber.[xv]
When wood loses moisture it shrinks, but when it gains moisture it expands. The movement is not equal in every direction, as dimensional change across the grain is substantially greater than movement along it.[xvi] It is all very well to be the proud owner of historic wooden gates, as I am, but I now realise that they will behave differently in different seasons.
Fire beneath the bracken
There is another risk that greatly worries me - fire. This risk is changing rapidly, and not just in the UK[xvii]. A hillside covered in green bracken does not necessarily look combustible, and to many will look scenic and attractive. Beneath the canopy, however, lies dead material from previous seasons. Prolonged dry weather changes its significance. On my land this matters because bracken, grass, woodland litter and organic soils can all become fuel.
Visitor behaviour consequently acquires a different significance when the risk of fire is high. Human-started wildfires are a massive problem and have been widely studied.[xviii] The finding is nearly unbelievable - human activity accounts for 84% of wildfires and 44% of the total area burned. It escapes me, for example, why anyone would even contemplate using a disposable barbecue, for example, when the fire risk is high. Yet people do. In my view, they are being thoughtless. A single spark is all it takes. If anyone is thoughtless on my land, my livelihood vanishes in minutes.
Fire planning has now become as normal a part of my land management as checking gates and walls. I carry all the information a fire service might need with me in case I spot a fire and need assistance in a hurry.
From drought to flood
There is a paradox to all of this. After weeks without adequate rain, in a part of the land where rain is often an everyday feature, I naturally wish to see rainfall. However, but intense rainfall on a dry landscape can come with baggage attached.
Dry, compacted or water-repellent surfaces may initially absorb water poorly. It takes a while for soil to absorb water, often several days. Heavy rain can produce rapid runoff, soil erosion and movement of sediment into nearby streams.
The climate the UK is moving towards is not simply drier. Climate projections suggest hotter, drier summers alongside warmer, wetter winters. There is also a forecast increase in some rainfall extremes. Under the Met Office’s high-emissions UKCP18 scenario, the national-average range for England by 2060 to 2079, relative to 1981 to 2000, extends from approximately 48% drier to 1% wetter for summer rainfall. Meanwhile, summer temperatures range from 1.6°C to 5.5°C warmer.[xix] We are in for trouble.
El Niño and 2027
Then there is El Niño. This is the warm phase of the so-called El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, and is marked by unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. It occurs irregularly every two to seven years, and alters global weather, rainfall, and jet streams. El Niño conditions developed in the tropical Pacific in June 2026. The Met Office reported that the event could become very strong, with central and eastern tropical Pacific sea-surface temperature anomalies potentially exceeding 2°C.[xx]
El Niño influences weather patterns around the world, but its effects on the UK are indirect and interact with many other atmospheric and oceanic processes. It is thus not possible to say definitively that 2027 will be worse than 2026. It could be wetter and cooler, or drier and hotter. Yet I must plan for trouble as only time will tell.
Doing less
Land management often encourages intervention - plant something, clear something, drain something, fence something, repair a wall, gate or stile. There is always something to do.
The heatwaves that have affected my country have made me wonder whether climate adaptation actually requires the opposite. Perhaps I should do less.
Maybe this is not the year to plant another batch of bare-root trees. Perhaps even the bracken, which I detest and consider to be toxic, should remain because animals use it for shade. Perhaps wet hollows should be valued precisely because they are wet rather than regarded as ground awaiting improvement. Maybe woodland edges and scrub should be allowed to provide thermal refuges. Perhaps the priority should be for me to help the trees that I have already planted to establish, rather than planting more.
After all, 100 newly planted trees look impressive on a planting record. Yet I hear little about the survival of those trees. Their establishment is all important. Five trees that survive for a century are better than 100 perishing within the first few years.
Holding water on the hill
For generations, land management has frequently treated unwanted water as something to move elsewhere. Let those further downstream worry about it, not me. These days that view is old-fashioned and far from being environmentally friendly. Different pieces of land should be handled differently. Not every ditch needs to be converted into a wetland. Nor does all open land need to be planted with trees. My land contains many different habitats, each with its own ecological value. Some ground should remain wet, some should stay wooded, some should remain open, and some should even contain scrub. The more varied the landscape, the greater the range of microclimates available when extremes occur.
Rough Sides as an observatory
I have come to think that one of the most useful things a landowner can do is notice change and do very little. Tinker if one must.
Climate change does not arrive as a single dramatic event. It is frequently slow and steady, which plays into the hands of climate deniers. Would you believe that there are still some people who do not think anything untoward is happening to the climate? They appear to believe, or say they believe, that what is happening globally is just the way of it, bad luck, and would have happened anyway. Climate deniers, it appears, are their own strange breed.
The climate change I am seeing is largely experienced through alterations to familiar things. The rowan whose leaves brown in July. I have some. The sheep disappearing into bracken at midday, or before in some cases. A badger spending longer searching for its food. A hare shifting its activity. Birds concentrating around the remaining water. Insects, too - they do the same.
A patch of ground that was once permanently wet but can now be crossed in ordinary boots. The puddle under one of my gates has long since disappeared. The soil is now hard, cracked and parched. Just like a human tongue.
Scandale Beck is a good example. One day it is reduced to a thin stream, and yet the next day it is a torrent. Or my several wooden gates whose striker suddenly misses the latch. The striker is the metal peg-like thing that protrudes from the gate.
Individually these are anecdotes. Yet taken together, climate change is obvious. This year - 2026 - has demonstrated that even a famously wet upland landscape such as my Lake District, can become vulnerable should heat, evaporation and prolonged periods of inadequate rainfall coincide.
Such effects extend beyond just water. Trees experience physiological stress, sheep and cattle seek shade, deer alter their behaviour, and badgers must work harder for food. Meanwhile, hares change their activity, birds face the challenge of both heat and water loss, dry vegetation increases the risk of fire, timber shrinks, and mountain streams vanish.
As a landowner, I must be flexible, as being rigid will not work. Climate change is sometimes presented as something that will happen decades from now, as it is expressed through projections for 2050, 2070, or beyond. To me, that is unhelpful.
We are in it, up to our necks, right now.[xxi]
***
References
[i] Kendon M, Doherty A, Hollis D, Carlisle E, Packman S, Rayner N, Berthou S, Barker L, S Turner S, Hannaford J, JevrejevaS, Matthews A, Williams J, Marshall A, Sparks T. State of the UK Climate 2025. Int J Climatol. 2026;46(S1).
[ii] Environment Agency. Dry weather and drought in England: 17 to 23 July 2026. London: Environment Agency; 2026 Jul 24. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dry-weather-and-drought-in-england-2026-summary-reports/dry-weather-and-drought-in-england-17-to-23-july-2026#:~:text=There%20has%20been%20minimal%20rainfall,rainfall%20received%20for%20the%20month. Accessed 17 August 2026.
[iii] Environment Agency. North-west England water situation: June 2026 summary. London: Environment Agency; 2026 Jul 17. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-situation-national-monthly-reports-for-england-2026/water-situation-june-2026-summary. Accessed 17 August 2026.
[iv] Forest Research. Adaptation Measures. See https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/climate-change/adaptation-measures/. Accessed 18 August 2026.
[v] Choat B, Brodribb TJ, Brodersen CR, Duursma RA, López R, Medlyn BE. Triggers of tree mortality under drought. Nature. 2018;558:531-539.
[vi] McGrath M, King S, Poynting M. El Niño under way and threatens weather extremes, scientists say. 11 June 2026. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75ylx7g00xo. Accessed 18 August 2026.
[vii] RHS. Instagram See https://www.instagram.com/the_rhs/reel/DcJf__4s-ZG/. Accessed 18 August 2026.
[viii] Schütz KE, Saunders LR, Huddart FJ, Watson T, Latimer B, Cox NR. Effects of shade on the behaviour and physiology of sheep in a temperate climate. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 2024 Mar 1;272:106185.
[ix] Azevedo LA, Canozzi ME, Rodhermel JC, Schwegler E, La Manna A, Clariget J, Bianchi I, Moreira F, Olsson DC, Peripolli V. Strategies to alleviate heat stress on performance and physiological parameters in feedlot-finished cattle under heat stress conditions. A systematic review-meta-analysis. Journal of Thermal Biology. 2024 Jan 1;119:103798.
[x] Yoder E. Builds with Eli Yoder. This $60 Buried Tube Has Kept Amish Homes 60°F Since 1900. Why Is the AC Industry Silent? See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBeiYWyP3g8. Accessed 18 August 2026.
[xi] Metereology. Soil Temperature, See https://learn.weatherstem.com/courses/wxstem_meteorology_01/module-07/03/14.html. Accessed 18 August 2026.
[xii] Noonan MJ, Markham A, Newman C, Trigoni N, Buesching CD, Ellwood SA, Macdonald DW. Climate and the individual: inter-annual variation in the autumnal activity of the European badger (Meles meles). PLoS One. 2014 Jan 17;9(1):e83156.
[xiii] Stiegler J, Pahl J, Guillen RA, Ullmann W, Blaum N The heat is on: impacts of rising temperature on the activity of a common European mammal. Front. Ecol. Evol. 2023 11:1193861.
[xiv] McKechnie AE, Wolf BO. Climate change increases the likelihood of catastrophic avian mortality events during extreme heat waves. Biol Lett. 2010 Apr 23;6(2):253-6. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0702. Epub 2009 Sep 30.
[xv] Glass SV, Zelinka SL. Moisture relations and physical properties of wood. Chapter 4 in FPL-GTR-282. 2021:4-1.
[xvi] Bergman R. Drying and control of moisture content and dimensional changes. Chapter 13 in FPL-GTR-282. 2021:13.
[xvii] Burton C, Di Giuseppe F, Jones MW, Kelley DI, Barbosa ML, McNorton J, Potts R, Segura-Garcia C, Abatzoglou JT, Alin Rosu I, Andela N. State of Wildfires 2025–2026. Earth System Science Data Discussions. 2026 Aug 3;2026:1-11.
[xviii] Balch JK, Bradley BA, Abatzoglou JT, Nagy RC, Fusco EJ, Mahood AL. Human-started wildfires expand the fire niche across the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2017 Mar 14;114(11):2946-51.
[xix] Met Office. UK Climate Projections (UKCP18). See https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/approach/collaboration/ukcp. Accessed 20 August 2026.
[xx] Met Office. El Niño declared for 2026 as Pacific warms. 11 June 2026. See https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2026/el-nio-declared-for-2026-as-pacific-warms. Accessed 21 August 2026.
[xxi] UN Environment Programme. Without big changes, this is what the environment will look like in 2050. See https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/without-big-changes-what-environment-will-look-2050. Accessed 21 August 2026.
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