THE FACT OF THE MATTER
BY PAUL HOPKINS
A drought is generally defined as a prolonged period of abnormally dry weather that can lead to water shortages, crop damage, low river flows or depletion of soil moisture. In Ireland, droughts usually occur in spring and summer when a persistent high-pressure system results in such weather.
Agricultural drought refers to the shortage of precipitation during the growing season that impinges on agricultural activities, whereas meteorological drought occurs when the amount of cloud moisture in a specific area is considerably less than normal. A ‘dry spell’ is 15 or more consecutive days with less than 1mm of rainfall, an ‘absolute drought’ is 15 or more consecutive days with less than 0.2mm and a ‘partial drought’ is 29 consecutive days with less than 0.2mm of rain.
Unlike a flood or a hurricane, drought builds up slowly, sometimes over months. That slow onset makes drought one of the most damaging natural hazards on the planet, say scientists, costing more than $307bn a year globally in crop losses, water scarcity and economic disruption.
If Uisce Éireann thinks setting snitches against splashers with its informers’ line to tell on defiant neighbours – water rats – who break the hosepipe ban is going to make a difference, think again, as the amount of water saved will be a mere drop in an ocean of wastage by all of us. The real issue is that of our carefree attitude to a much-needed resource. One in four globally (2.2bn) have no access to drinking water.
There are other reasons for our predicament. There is climate change, the hot spell a nightmare for much of Europe, where temperatures approaching 40 degrees are causing devastating wildfires and fatalities.
The planet’s surface has already warmed by 1 degree Celsius and could see a catastrophic 1.5C increase between 2030 and 2052, scientists say. “This is concerning because we know there are so many more problems if we exceed 1.5C global warming, including more heat waves and hot summers, greater sea level rise, and, for many parts of the world, worse droughts and rainfall extremes,” says Andrew King, a climate science academic at the University of Melbourne.
The same UN report says Ireland’s commitments on climate change fall far short of what is required of the Paris Agreement if global warming is to be limited to that rise of 1.5 degrees. Prof. Valérie Masson-Delmotte, an expert in climate extremes, has told the Government that achieving such a target “is not impossible but requires unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society”.
To achieve the target, global emissions of carbon dioxide need to fall by about 50% by 2030 and reach “net zero” by 2050, the professor says. Ireland’s current targets are only a 30% reduction by 2030 and 80% by 2050.
Then there are the old pipe leakages which cause 38% of water to be lost (at least it’s down from 49% in 2014) before it reaches our taps in networks which date back to the 19th century. Population growth too, which has jumped by 1.6 million since the millennium, driven chiefly by inward migration. The lack of water infrastructure is restricting our ability to build homes to solve the continuing housing crisis.
Our water usage is heavier than most of our European neighbours, yet, unlike most, we don’t pay for it. Perhaps it is time we did – then we might be more careful about our usage. Talk about splashing out on the wrong things!
The European Drought Observatory has most of Ireland under drought watch or drought warning – stages two and three of its three-step threat index – and a number of local areas are already at stage three.
Meantime, Ireland’s drinking water sources will be scarcer and more polluted as climate change plays out, a Government analysis shows. The report looks at the expected impacts on water quality and water infrastructure for the next 25 years and warns that substantial risks loom. More frequent summer droughts will deplete supplies and see natural minerals such as manganese become more concentrated, discolouring our drinking water.
Higher temperatures year-round will make rivers and lakes warmer and that, in turn, will kill plants and fish. According to the report, their decomposing remains will contaminate water sources which will also be prone to higher levels of disease-causing (diarrhoea) cryptosporidium, a nasty little parasite that thrives in warmer temperatures.
Hmmm.
Barman, another whiskey… but maybe skip the drop of uisce. Don’t want them water rats squealing on me …
