Connacht Tribune
West coast faces floodwater crisis by end of the century
Sea levels along the west coast of Ireland are on course to rise by as much as one metre within the next century, according to doomsday scenario outlined in new scientific research.
It means that ‘exceptional’ flood events that now occur once every 100 years, could happen every year in coastal areas of Northern Europe, such as Galway, if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising.
The frightening projections by scientists take into account global warming and changes in mean sea levels, waves, tides and storm surges up to the year 2100.
The study, ‘Extreme sea levels on the rise along Europe’s coasts’ was published in Earth’s Future, an academic journal.
It contains worrying projections for areas of County Galway, such as Connemara, Ballinasloe, and Gort, as well as the city, which have all been submerged in floodwaters and battered by winter storms in recent years.
It warned that, “the North Sea region is projected to face the highest increase” in extreme sea levels with “similar” increases expected along the Atlantic coasts of Ireland and United Kingdom.
It said “considerable increases” are projected for the Norwegian, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean Sea.
“Future extreme sea levels and flood risk along European coasts will be strongly impacted by global warming. Here, we show changes in all acting components, including sea level rise, tides, waves, and storm surges, until 2100 in view of climate change.
“We find that by the end of this century the 100-year event along Europe will on average increase between 57 and 81 centimetres. The North Sea region is projected to face the highest increase, amounting to nearly one metre under a high emission scenario by 2100, followed by the Baltic Sea and Atlantic coasts of the UK and Ireland.
“Sea level rise is the main driver of the changes, but intensified climate extremes along most of northern Europe can have significant local effects. By the end of this century, five million Europeans currently under threat of a 100-year coastal flood event could be annually at risk from coastal flooding under high-end warming,” the reports’ authors said.
The study found that exceptional flooding events that used to happen on average once every century, will now happen far more frequently.
The report warned that the projected rise in extreme sea levels “constitutes a serious threat to European coastal societies.”
“Their safety and resilience depends on the effectiveness of natural and man-made coastal flood protection (including) the capacity of the coastal zone to act as a buffer and absorb ocean energy through complex wave shoaling and breaking processes.
“Taking into account flood protection standards in place and uncertainty in their probability of failure, around five million people could potentially be affected,” it said.
The present findings imply that exceptional flood events will occur “approximately every eleven years by 2050, and every three and one years by 2100,” under the worst-case scenarios.
“Hence, the five million Europeans currently at risk to be flooded by sea water once every 100 years, may be flooded on an almost annual basis by the end of this century. Some regions are projected to experience an even higher increase in the frequency of occurrence of extreme events, most notably along the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, where the present day 100-year extreme sea level is projected to occur several times a year.
“Such increase in frequency of events that today are considered as exceptional will likely push existing coastal protection structures beyond their design limits, rendering a large part of Europe’s coastal zones exposed to intermittent flood hazard. These findings stress the need to timely develop and implement appropriate adaptation measures,” the report added.
In 2013, new flooding risk guidelines recommended that planners allow an extra half a metre in height on sites in coastal areas to protect against the effects of climate change. Galway County Council was told at the time that the new guidelines are based on a ‘precautionary principle’ that a major once in a lifetime, or “one in one hundred years” flooding event will occur.
Gort and South Galway was badly hit by flooding in January 2016, as well as in 2009, when Ballinasloe was also submerged in water, causing millions of Euros worth of damage.
The city and Connemara has also endured several flooding events in the past decade.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
