Galway, Clare and Roscommon are the counties where sinkholes and subsidence are most likely to occur, a location intelligence software and services provider has found. Using its risk assessment reporting tool, Perilfinder, Gamma has identified a number of areas across the country that are more exposed to subsidence events such as sinkholes.
Subsidence occurs when the earth’s surface ‘sinks’ unexpectedly and it can damage or destroy buildings, land and infrastructure. Soil depth, soil type, rock type and historic underground structures can all have an effect on risk levels, while the extent of subsidence depends on underlying environmental factors and the design of building foundations.
Ireland and other parts of northwestern Europe will bear the brunt of increasingly severe flooding caused by climate change, according to a new Europe-wide study. The findings, by 24 research centres including the Maynooth college, will force states to make flood management strategies more robust as the frequency of extreme floods in river systems is likely to increase from one-in-a-100-year event to one-in-80-year, and possibly one-in-50-year event.
This found the impact of flooding in Europe had increased over the past 50 years – and that this can be directly attributed to global warming. It is the first time the trend has been proven, according to Dr Conor Murphy of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units at Maynooth University who was involved in the research.
The reason I chose these two hazards is because Ireland deals with these two hazards the most.
Flooding in Ireland can have a significant impact on homes, businesses, people and communities. The flooding problem cannot be eliminated but can be managed or mitigated to reduce its likelihood, severity or impact. The Office of Public Works (OPW) is leading a proactive and whole of Government approach to managing flood risk that takes the potential impacts of climate change into account, across three strategic areas:
- Prevention - avoiding construction in flood-prone areas
- Protection - taking feasible measures to protect areas against flooding
- Preparedness - planning and responding to reduce the impacts of flood event
The most vulnerable areas are in Galway, Clare, and Roscommon. Each of these counties has more than 15% of their total buildings falling within a high risk zone. Over a quarter (26%) of the 123,401 buildings in Galway fall within such areas. That’s more than 31,500 structures – some 26,800 of which are residential dwellings. In Clare, this percentage is just slightly lower at 24%, which equates to almost 12,000 buildings, including approximately 10,200 residential buildings.
Meanwhile, 16% of the buildings in Roscommon fall within a high risk area which is the equivalent of nearly 5,000 structures. Again, the majority (3,800) of those are residential structures. At the other end of the scale, Wexford and Wicklow have very few buildings located in high risk subsidence areas; each less than 1%. Across Ireland as a whole, less than 5% of buildings (111,056 addresses) – both commercial and residential – fall within areas predisposed to subsidence events.
I wouldn't construct a house personally, as i would live in Walsh Island, Ireland. where its country life intrigues me the most and is less likely to to have sinkholes or flooding.
Cites and Notations:
https://irishtechnews.ie/gamma-reveals-areas-in-ireland-most-at-risk-from-sinkholes-and-subsidence/#google_vignette
https://www.gov.ie/en/news/f5a59-managing-flood-risk-in-ireland/
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30872313.html
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/ireland-at-risk-of-severe-flooding-from-climate-change-1.4000229