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Prince Charles authors Ladybird book on climate change featuring scene from devastating 2000 floods on its cover

PRINCE Charles has written a Ladybird book on climate change featuring a scene from devastating 2000 floods on its cover, one of his co-authors has revealed.

The heir to the throne, who has long been a passionate campaigner on climate change, has reportedly taken on the challenges and possible solutions in a new book called Climate Change aimed at adults.

 Prince Charles has written on the challenges and possible solutions in a new book called Climate Change
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Prince Charles has written on the challenges and possible solutions in a new book called Climate Change
 The cover of the book was based on this image of flooding in Uckfield, East Sussex in 2000
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The cover of the book was based on this image of flooding in Uckfield, East Sussex in 2000Credit: Caters News Agency

He penned the book with Tony Juniper, a former Friends of the Earth director, and Emily Shuckburgh, a Cambridge University climate scientist.

Rowland White, a publishing director with Penguin, which produces Ladybird books, told that Prince Charles first approached the publisher with the idea in spring last year.

"It was a coincidence where we were thinking about a new series for adults after the huge success of the spoof books, but this time wanted some factual books by experts on science, history and arts subjects," Mr White said.

 Prince Charles Visiting a flood centre in the village of Naburn, North Yorkshire
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Prince Charles Visiting a flood centre in the village of Naburn, North Yorkshire
 The Prince of Wales meets residents in the flood-hit community of Muchelney, Somerset in 2014
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The Prince of Wales meets residents in the flood-hit community of Muchelney, Somerset in 2014Credit: Rex Features

The publisher agreed but made sure the book was “peer-reviewed” by Royal Meteorological Society and other climate experts because of the "intense scrutiny and ­sensitivity surrounding the issue".

Mr White added: “They amended some of the more assertive language to ensure it was bulletproof.”

The 52-page book is said to offer a "bite-sized understanding" of a "challenging subject" and includes the recent flooding in parts of Britain and rising global temperatures.

Its cover features a scene from the devastating 2000 floods in East Sussex - one of 700 areas in the UK that was flooded.

The autumn of 2000 - between September to November - was the wettest on record over England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as over the UK as a whole.

The wet weather brought widespread flooding to England and Wales as rivers rose to record levels and burst their banks.

 A gas inspector wades through a flooded supermarket in the centre of Uckfield in 2000
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A gas inspector wades through a flooded supermarket in the centre of Uckfield in 2000Credit: Reuters
 The autumn of 2000 was the wettest on record in the UK - 10,000 homes and businesses were flooded at 700 locations
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The autumn of 2000 was the wettest on record in the UK - 10,000 homes and businesses were flooded at 700 locationsCredit: Reuters

One of the authors, Mr Juniper told : "His Royal Highness, Emily and I had to work very hard to make sure that each word did its job, while at the same time working with the pictures to deliver the points we needed to make.

"I hope we've managed to paint a vivid picture, and like those iconic titles from the 60s and 70s, created a title that will stand the test of time."

Ladybird books traditionally targeted children but has recently found success with a range of humorous books for adults.

Penguin Books said the book will be released on January 26.

Last year, in an interview with Sky News, the prince said climate change may have helped cause the Syrian civil war, and spawned terrorism and the refugee crisis in Europe.

He said: "Some of us were saying 20 something years ago that if we didn't tackle these issues, you would see ever greater conflict over scarce resources and ever greater difficulties over drought, and the accumulating effect of climate change which means that people have to move," he said.

"And in fact there's very good evidence indeed that one of the major reasons for this horror in Syria, funnily enough, was a drought that lasted for about five or six years, which meant that huge numbers of people in the end had to leave the land but increasingly they came into the cities."


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