1 week Ago
Most of the world no longer needs any convincing about climate change, despite Donald Trump’s “Drill, baby, drill!” declaration endorsing fossil fuels this week. Nature’s mood swings are undeniably becoming ever more violent. Even so, by any objective standards, Storm Éowyn – with 180kmh gusts in Connemara – was a tantrum for the ages.
In terms of disruption and bringing the country to a standstill, it stood out as a force to be reckoned with. But due to the excellence of Met Éireann and the selfless dedication of first responders, ESB crews and hospital staff, we have come through the worst of it. While most of us stayed, in heeding the danger, many put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe or to maintain essential services.
We may not know who they are, but these people have made a difference to our lives and we owe them our gratitude. The logistics and resources needed to restore power to just under one million homes and businesses across the island currently without it and to protect the water supplies of 500,000 other people present unprecedented challenges. Without the detailed and timely advice from Met Éireann, matters would have been a whole lot worse.
Isaac Asimov wrote: “No one has a sorrier lot than the weatherman. He/she is ignored when he is right, but execrated when he is wrong.” Most of us consider ourselves to be skilled forecasters, despite the fact our expertise is drawn solely from our ability to look out the window.
According to scientists, the ferocity of Éowyn was boosted by a wave of Arctic air that had already cut through the US. A uniquely chaotic weather system thus super-charged the jet stream. These factors combined to turn Éowyn into a “weather bomb armed with destructive winds”, according to the Washington Post .
Its aftermath is also going to require a massive clean-up operation. The Health and Safety Authority is still urging extreme caution. “If you don’t have the proper training or equipment to safely use a chainsaw, don’t take the risk.
Engage with emergency and professional services,” its chief inspector Mark Cullen said. The frequency of extreme weather events, and the intensifying of their destructive capacities, demand ever more urgent responses. Helping communities become more resilient in the face of such natural superpowers will have to be prioritised.
We can bolster defences and prepare better, but prevention is so much better than a cure. Embracing green energies and more sustainable ways of living are the only effective ways of addressing global warming. There is an African-American proverb that says: “Cussing the weather is mighty poor farming.
” Donald Trump will continue to fume and frame the need for clean energy to combat climate change as a plot to bring America to its knees. But the climate change facts speak ever more loudly for themselves. A president proposes, but nature disposes.
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