Flood alert: Irish cities under threat from global warming

DUBLIN, Cork, Galway and Limerick could be under water in 40 years time, as experts warn that climate change will cause frequent and severe flooding in our main cities.

Parts of Mayo and Wexford, Cork Harbour, the Shannon Estuary, Tralee Bay and Castlemaine Harbour are in danger of disappearing completely by the middle of the century, as global warming causes a rise in sea levels and increased coastal erosion.

The scientific report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said global temperatures will rise by 2%-4% by the end of the century, leading to the melting of ice caps and extreme weather features.

In Ireland this will mean:

Increased rainfall, rising sea levels and more storm surges, leading to the overflowing of rivers and the flooding of cities on which they are built.

Drought or water shortages in the East and South East where rainfall will reduce by 30%-40% by the middle of the century.

Receding coastlines. Land on the East coast, particularly Wexford, and parts of Kerry will be lost.

Climatologist, Rowan Fealy from NUI Maynooth said the threats are real, and will have huge consequences for the whole population.

“The most important change in Ireland will be in rainfall. There will be increased precipitation in the North West of the country particularly. At the same time, there will be fairly significant decreases in rainfall in the East and South East where rainfall will drop by 30%-40% by the middle of the century.”

He said: “We are already near to a breaking point with water supplies in the population centre, Dublin. With reduced rainfall and increasing population there will a shortfall of water by the mid-century. This will lead to competition for resources between agriculture, industry and domestic use.”

Scientists have predicted that amount of run-off water going into Irish rivers is expected to increase by 60% by the end of the century.

This will lead to swellings of the Shannon River which goes through Limerick, the Corrib running through Galway and, the Lee in Cork and Dublin’s Liffey.

Dr Fiona Cawkwell from the Geography Department in University College Cork (UCC) said: “Storm surges and more rainfall will lead to the swelling of rivers.

This will lead to urban flooding, irrespective of sea level changes. We have seen this already in Cork where flooding has been caused by high levels of the River Lee.”

Mr Fealy said: “Last November we saw significant flooding along the West coast caused by heavy rainfall over a long time period. We have seen floods in Galway city because of an increase in rainfall, flowing into the river. When it has nowhere to go it is basically going to flood.

“This will increase as we move along the century,” he said.

Dr John Sweeney, a geography expert from NUI Maynooth said Ireland is the “delinquent” of Europe in its contribution to climate change.

“In Ireland we are among the highest per capita in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Although we are a small country, on a per capita basis we are way above the UK and Germany in terms of our contribution to the problem,” he said.

Environment Minister Dick Roche said: “Ireland is playing and will continue to play its part in the international response to global warming. We have ratified the Kyoto Protocol and we will meet our target using all of the available mechanisms, including domestic action, participation in EU Emissions Trading Scheme and support for projects in developing countries.”