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WET is the word. This winter, rainstorms of biblical proportions have left
Britain with swollen rivers, severe flooding, and thousands of people and
businesses in extremis. Floodline, the emergency helpline, reported receiving
over 500,000 emergency calls during one 10-day period. The costs of all this
unwanted water are huge, and the consequences long-term. So I was pleased when
the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Earth Sciences held a meeting recently
under the intriguing title “Floating Voters—Flooding in the UK”.

Allan Rogers—a geologist before coming to Parliament as MP for
Rhondda—chaired the meeting. He set the scene with two…

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