OH FLIUCH...
» ‘Multiple climate hazards’ are forecast » El Nino could bring ‘difficult year’ ahead
IRELAND is set for another year of extreme weather including storms and devastating flooding after 2023 saw towns across the country besieged by intense rainfall.
Residents in Midleton, Co Cork, are still counting the cost of huge floods in December and fear that worse is to come this year.
Extreme weather events wreaked havoc in Carlingford, Co Louth, Newry, Co Down, and the coastal town of Clontarf last month.
In December, a freak tornado hit a Leitrim village, ripping slates off roofs and damaging cars.
In response to more frequent storms and heavy rainfall, a new flood forecasting centre is to open in coming weeks to support authorities taking defensive measures.
Forecasters will work with councils advising them if they need to deploy sandbags or close roads, as floods are expected to become more regular as climate change worsens.
Experts have warned that the world faces “unavoidable multiple climate hazards” in the next two decades if global average temperatures rise by 1.5C.
IRREVERSIBLE
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said breaching that rise in temperature, even temporarily, will lead to “additional severe impacts some of which will be irreversible”.
Climate Minister Eamon Ryan admitted the country faces “a difficult year” in 2024 with more extreme weather events and heavy flooding likely.
He said focusing on managing the source of water upstream through grassland management, forestry management, peatland restoration and use of floodplains would prove a “game changer”.
He added: “It’s likely, unfortunately, that 2024 will be when the El Nino effect really kicks in.
“We don’t know where, we don’t know exactly what form the weather disruption will be, but it’s likely we’re going into a difficult year.
“We do have to focus on adaptation and protecting ourselves against climate impact, not just trying to reduce emissions.”
Eleven named storms lashed Ireland last year – the highest number since 2018 according to climatologist Paul Moore and more than double those recorded in 2021 or 2022.
He described 2023 as “an extraordinary climatological year with climate change driving a surge in extreme weather events and record high temperatures around the world”.
Mr Moore said: “In Ireland, we have set the second consecutive warmest year on record FEARS Minister Ryan with the annual mean temperature for Ireland breaching 11C for the first time.” Globally extreme weather events look set to increase with the first days of this year marred by a number of weather-related fatalities. The first hours of 2024 brought severe flooding in California that left three motorists dead.
There was devastation in Japan on New Year’s Day after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake toppled buildings and ruptured roads leaving more than 120 people dead. Weather-related fatalities rose by 30% in 2023 – the hottest year on record – with at least 12,000 people globally killed as a result of floods, fires, storms and landslides.
In Canada wildfires burned through 45 million acres of forest and eight months’ worth of rain fell in Libya in one storm washing entire neighbourhoods away.
Deadly heatwaves swept across Europe, Asia and the US and the town of Lahaina in Hawaii was destroyed by a wildfire that killed 100
people. The number of catastrophes is rapidly growing in frequency with just 18 days between disasters compared to 82 days on average between events in the 1980s. El Nino, a climate pattern marked by warmer surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, is expected to cause more warming. One climate report published in December warned: “The window of opportunity to tackle climate change is closing. We need to act now.”
It’s likely, unfortunately, 2024 will be when the El Nino effect really kicks in... it’s likely we’re going into a difficult year 18 days between weather disasters, compared to 82 days in the 1980s