Irelands extreme weather

 

Like it’s people, Ireland’s weather is never boring or predictable. Dancing in the rain, blowing in the wind, but all the time, the sun is never far away!

Our climate can be summed up as being mild, moist and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. You can experience all four seasons in the one day, if you're lucky!

Because the island is hugged all year round by the warm influence of the Gulf Stream, Ireland is much warmer than other countries that share its latitude. The Gulf Stream also ensures that the Irish coastline remains ice-free throughout winter. 

Extreme winters are rare, and you're more likely to encounter a warm glow than a frosty reception, with average winter temperatures of between 40°F/5°C and 46°F/8°C. 

Summer temperatures are generally between 60°F/15°C to 70°F/20°C.  One thing that is more than probable is rain -  that’s what makes our grass so green, so don’t forget to pack your rain gear and a woolly jumper!

Climatologist Professor John Sweeney has warned that Ireland “will have to get used to” extreme weather events like the flooding experienced in parts of Cork last week.

Prof. Sweeney told Newstalk Breakfast that all extreme weather events have the “fingerprint, however small” of climate change on them and Storm Babet was no different.We know that this particular storm, however, developed in the very warm waters off the coast of Portugal. We’ve been having a marine heatwave most of the summer and autumn, so it was developing in waters which were one to two degrees Celsius warmer than usual.

“That means it could hold a lot more water vapours, so it’s arriving on our shores supercharged, and it’s that really which, I think, is pointing to the climate change dimension as being instrumental in making the event more extreme as the residents of Midleton would no doubt testify.”

There was no doubt that floods like those in Cork last week would happen again because Ireland’s climate was changing.

Citations and cites:

https://www.educationinireland.com/en/living-in-ireland/before-arrival/climate/

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/ireland-will-have-to-get-used-more-extreme-weather-events-says-climatologist-1543186.html

Irelands mass wasting hazard

 ​​​​​​​​The term "landslide" describes a wide variety of processes that result in the downward and outward movement of materials under the force of gravity; this includes materials like rock, debris, earth, mud and peat, or a combination of these.  Ireland's location, terrain and climate result in landslides occurring mainly in areas with steep slopes where rock meets the surface and peat covers the terrain.

Landslides have the potential to cause great havoc, and have done so all around the world. They have resulted in massive loss of life and damage to infrastructure. Landslides can damage roads, railways, canal embankments, and cause dams to fail. They can destroy or severely damage buildings of all types – housing, commercial or industrial property. Rivers can become blocked or diverted by sediment or rock displaced by landslides.

The consequences of this can include flooding, pollution of watercourses and the killing of fish stocks. Agricultural land can be sterilised in the short to medium term. It does not require spectacularly huge landslide events to cause serious disruption or loss of life. Relatively small landslides in terms of the volume of material displaced can damage bridges and roads, and also cause injury and death. These potential impacts of landslides, irrespective of their size, mean that the scale of the problem for Ireland in the past and into the future needs serious attention so that the susceptibility of the Irish landscape to slope instability can be properly assessed. Ireland is fortunate not to be in an extreme high risk to major geohazards. Indeed, in comparison to many other countries, Ireland may be regarded as a medium hazardous environment in terms of landslide hazard. 

The Irish Landslides Group (ILWG) was established in early 2004 as a direct response to the landslides in the autumn of 2003. It was felt important that it should be a multi-disciplinary team, bringing together various types of expertise which are relevant to landslide studies. 

Main objectives:-

1. Build a national database of past landslide events

2. Examine geotechnical parameters with regard to landslides.

3. Assess the potential for landslide susceptibility mapping in Ireland.

4. Make recommendations on the integration of landslide hazard issues into the planning process.

5. Promotion of landslide research in Ireland.

6. Raise public awareness about landslide hazard in Ireland.

Links and sources:

https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/programmes-and-projects/geohazards/activities/Pages/Irish-Landslides-Working-Group.aspx

https://www.thinkhazard.org/en/report/119-ireland/LS