Floods Recede but Global Warming Increases
November 11th, 2000
Floodwaters in County Wicklow have receded and the much expected additional flooding has not materialised as predicted by the weather services. Damage to property is extensive and the final bill is expected to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds in insurance claims. Some households have had entire first floors of their homes severely damaged and are facing large repair bills.
After the Deluge
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Over the past few days of downpours parts of the country have had over 100mm of rain in less than 24 hours. Most of our current records were established during Hurricane Charlie on August 25th 1986 when an all time high of 200mm was measured at Kilcoole in County Wicklow on that particular day. We must wait until the new batches of statistics have been analysed to find out if the recent downpours have broken the previous records.
In response to the flash flooding and severe weather conditions the Green party is calling on the government to look at the direct consequences of Global warming. Councillor Deirdre de Burca is calling for action to be taken in the form of a high profile public education campaign to inform people as to what is happening with our climate and the consequences if we do not take action now. The message from the Green Party is that the past few days is a taste of what is likely to come if no action is taken on global warming.
"International scientific research shows that human beings are changing the chemical makeup of the earth's atmosphere by adding to the green house effect with gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide" says Councillor de Burca. While welcoming the governments recent launch of the National Climate Change Strategy, the Green Party have pointed out that the plan is in direct conflict with the National Development Plan which will release huge quantities of carbon dioxide emissions from such sectors as transport, agriculture, and industry.
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