Action needed to stop extreme weather effects, Cork lecturer says

Extreme weather events such as flooding, gale force winds and severe storms have hit Cork and southwest coast in recent months and years, impacting people, businesses and infrastructure.

Dr Paul Leahy, a lecturer at University College Cork and a funded investigator in the Science Foundation Ireland MAREI Centre for Marine, Climate and Energy research, has warned that many types of these extreme weather events will become more severe and more frequent in future.

He highlighted the importance of accelerating flood defence schemes and ensuring that local flood defence mechanisms are in place and maintained.

Dr Leahy is involved in the ClimAtt project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, which examines the impact of climate change on these events, and the events themselves.

As to whether climate change is the root cause of these storms and floods, Dr Leahy admitted that “the answer is not always straightforward”.

“There are many different types of extreme weather events,” he explained.

“For example, there are short, heavy downpours of rain which can cause localised but severe flooding.

“Longer-duration events, where we get higher than normal rain over a month or more, can cause river levels to rise and the ground to become saturated.

“Then when further rainfall arrives, we get heavy and widespread flooding,” he added.

“Many events are complicated with a number of different causes, for example the devastating flood of November 2009 which submerged much of Cork City.

“Our analysis in the ClimAtt project did not find a link to climate change for that particular event, but there is no doubt that other events including droughts and high winter rainfalls will become more frequent and more severe in the coming decades,” warned Dr Leahy.

The UCC lecturer highlighted the need to adapt our infrastructure and our activities to deal with these events.

“Adapting infrastructure can include better storm drains, less use of sealed concrete surfaces and moving towards porous surfaces to help water infiltrate into the soil instead of running off immediately,” he said.

Dr Leahy also explained that large-scale impacts resulting from events like floods can be reduced by flood relief schemes.

“Several towns in County Cork have already benefited from such schemes, such as Mallow,” he said.

“These tend to be large, expensive, engineering schemes and they are sometimes controversial, such as the proposed Cork City flood protection scheme.

“Localised impacts such as smaller floods can be reduced by simpler measures, such as carrying out regular inspection and maintenance of culverts and drains and removing blockages,” he added.

The UCC lecturer highlighted the importance of funding and accelerating flood relief schemes and ensuring that smaller scale infrastructure is maintained and developed to prevent significant damage from such events in future.

“The national government needs to continue to fund and accelerate flood relief schemes, and local authorities need to ensure that smaller-scale infrastructure such as drains are well-maintained and adequate,” he explained.

“Good communications between communities, local authorities, forecasters and businesses are essential to minimise the impacts when these events do occur.”