Saving the harvest - Is humanity responsible for floods?

THE dismal, grey weather, the unseasonal and seemingly inescapable rain has made this summer a washout.

Homes, farms and other businesses have been flooded, and though there is nothing terribly unusual about that, the severity and speed with which the floods became a threat to life and property was startling. They were mini versions of the floods that have devastated parts of continental Europe and Britain in recent years.

The floods that struck Newcastlewest in Limerick at the start of the month, and those that swamped Carlow town over the past few days, have been exceptional in their impact and speed.