Spend that Apple cash getting Cork ready for climate change

It’s difficult to imagine a world where local law enforcement urges people to write their name, date of birth, and next of kin on their arms with black permanent marker in case an approaching storm kills them.

This is the reality that faced the population of Charlotte County in Florida last week.

The county sheriff said in news conferences that people who hadn’t left mandatory evacuation areas to escape Hurricane Milton should write on their limbs to aid identification of their bodies in the event of a 10ft storm surge.

This is what climate change looks like. Back-to-back destructive hurricanes super-powered by hot oceans means fleeing with your family to higher ground or other states.

A veteran U.S meteorologist cried on camera because he deeply understood how the numbers, models, and weather charts were going to translate into destruction and death.

Not everyone has the means to mobilise and move and instead must hunker down and hope.

The local Tampa Bay Times newspaper ran articles about how to build an essential storm survival kit, with tips about filling your bathtub with water and having seven days’ worth of non-perishable food and water per family member.

Thankfully, Hurricane Milton downgraded significantly as it made landfall and wasn’t as bad as feared. But the situation is still pretty terrible when people are grateful to only have to deal with 6ft of flooding rather than 10ft!

World Weather Attribution analysis said that storms as intense as Hurricane Helene and Milton are now about 2.5 times more frequent because of human-caused climate change.

Forecasters are expecting 2024 to be an especially active hurricane season due to record heat in the Atlantic Ocean and the La Niña weather system, which is traditionally associated with more intense hurricanes.

Florida is one of the most climate- vulnerable states in America. Sea level rise is going to swallow up the lowest lying parts of it. More intense hurricanes are going to cause large scale damage. Saltwater intrusion is likely to contaminate freshwater supplies which feed drinking water to millions of residents.

The increasing cost of rebuilding after hurricanes could eventually make certain areas economically unviable to maintain. If insurance s become prohibitively expensive or if regions are deemed too risky to insure, people may be forced to move away from the most vulnerable parts of the state.

In parts of the Florida Keys, authorities are already looking at buying out homeowners in flood- prone neighbourhoods and relocating them, rather than spend billions raising the level of roads and protecting key infrastructure like water and utilities.

The sanitised term for moving people out of their homes is ‘managed retreat’, it’s a phrase disconnected from the sadness and grief that comes from having to leave your home, but it is a term that we are going to hear more and more over the years as the practicalities, and cost, of protecting coastal communities become clearer.

“Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones, with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you’re the one filming it”, is a quote that circulates on social media any time there is an event like Hurricane Milton.

The attribution to the original author has been lost, but it is a phrase that comes to mind whenever I see tourists fleeing burning parts of Greece, cars swept along in thunderous floods in central Europe, or wildfire smoke engulfing major cities like New York.

It was a very fitting quote almost a year ago as we watched, on our phones, footage recorded by Cork people on their phones, of the familiar main street of Midleton submerged and rescuers pulling people into boats.

The one-year anniversary of Storm Babet’s disastrous flooding of Midleton is approaching, and while €5.8 million of funding was recently announced for Cork County Council to install flood gates to 920 home and business owners, the after-effects of the 2023 floods will continue for years.

Analysis after Storm Babet found that extreme October rainfall has become about twice as likely and 13% more intense in County Cork because of global heating.

Researchers also found that heavy rainfall will occur more often and become more intense in south-western Ireland as the climate warms further.

If you are a Midleton resident, which is prone to flood, those climate predictions make for uneasy reading.

In the coming years, climate change will reshape Irish society in ways that go beyond the environment itself. Economic disruptions, pressure on infrastructure, health challenges, and increased inequality will pose significant challenges for the government and communities.

Early adaptation and planning are crucial to make Ireland as resilient in the face of climate change as possible.

If predictions about how melting ice from Greenland will disrupt the Atlantic currents that keep Ireland warm throughout the year are correct, our children could be dealing with a completely different climate - severe cold winters and stronger storms which would disrupt all aspects of life, particularly agriculture and how we produce food.

Ireland needs to invest in climate resilience. Local food production, robust water supplies, renewable energy systems, sustainable housing, and key flood protection infrastructure are all things we should be spending our Apple billions on, to help us adapt to the realities of climate change.

If that all sounds depressing and overwhelming, that one of the most powerful climate actions an individual can do is to vote for politicians who take climate change seriously.

There is an election approaching. If you are worried about what climate change means for you and your children’s future. tell canvassing candidates when they turn up on your doorstep that you want action. Before you find yourself filming the effects of climate change with your phone on your own doorstep.