A map that has circulated in recent days predicting areas of Ireland and England that would be under water by the year 2100 due to rising sea levels. This is very much a worst-case scenario and unlikely to happen this quickly but the recent OPW report emphasises that action is needed to protect our coastlines
Eight areas of Co Louth, including Dundalk and Blackrock, are at significant risk of flooding in years to come, according to a leading climate change expert.
Professor John Sweeney of NUI Maynooth has identified 300 cities, towns and village at risk in the years to come but warned that it would take years to make them all safe at a cost of billions to this and future governments.
He said in an article in today’s Irish Independent that this would leave the authorities with no choice but to accept that some areas cannot be economically protected given the rate at which seal levels are rising and the money that it would take to properly defend them all.
A detailed list of vulnerable areas, commissioned by the OPW, shows that areas of all 26 counties are vulnerable, including eight in Louth.
They include: Annagassan, Ardee, Baltray, Blackrock South, Carlingford and Greenore, Dundalk, Termonfeckin and Drogheda. Nearby areas in Co Monaghan such as Inniskeen and Carrickmacross are also at risk, according to the report.
The full list is contained in the National Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment overview report, with all areas set to be the subject of an in-depth investigation over the coming years before a detailed list of flood defences needed across the country is produced in 2015.
Despite frequent flooding in Dundalk and Blackrock in recent weeks, Junior Minister Brian Hayes has warned that because of funding restrictions areas most at risk may have to be prioritised, which would likely lead to heavily hit areas such as Cork, Clare, Waterford and other western counties put to the top of the list.
The report comes on the back of a predicted weather map that is circulating online at present, which suggests the whole of Co Louth may be under water by the year 2100 due to rising sea levels.
While that is a worst case scenario and highly unlikely to happen in less than 100 years, it is a reminder that action is needed both locally and nationally in order to protect our futures.
