Ireland's Most Damaging Hazards

Ireland here for the last time!  I wasn’t sure which two I really wanted to talk about without looking back at some of my old work.  So, I’ve decided to make my final blog about mass wasting/movement and wildfires.  These two hazards aren’t necessarily the most dangerous to Ireland right now, but they do cause the most damage.  I chose these two hazards because they have a lot to do with the initial topography of the country.  They occur mostly because of topographic reasons. 

Mass wasting is relatively common in Ireland because of the many hillsides, mountainsides, cliffsides, etc. that make up the land.  They’ve experienced 50 landslides since the 1900s.  Also, Ireland is covered in peat which is a brown, soil-like material that doesn’t grow deep roots so it can easily be dislodged.  Mass wasting hasn’t taken any lives in Ireland yet, but there is a good possibility that major landslides could cover homes and communities.  In September of 2003, Ireland experienced a major landslide after a period of heavy rainfall which is a main cause of landslides.  It occurred in the town Pollatomish in County Mayo and over 40 families had to be evacuated from their homes and it caused tremendous damage to nearby roads, bridges, and homes.  Another major landslide occurred a month later in Derrybrien of County Galway which dislodged 450,000 cubic meter of peat polluting nearby rivers killing more 50,000 fish.  

In Ireland, there is the Irish Susceptibility Mapping project which helps track what areas are more susceptible to landslides than others which aids in preventing future landslides.  Ireland is also responsible for getting the National Landslide Database started which helps countries all over the world help record and prevent landslides.  In early 2004, the Landslide Working Group was established to help further prevent landslides and also bring awareness to locals.  So, Ireland is pretty well equipped in handling landslides but there are some things I would do if I could to help further prevent landslides.  First, I’d like like to have barriers at the base of any hillside, mountainside, cliffside, set up so if a landslide occurred, that would help prevent so much from causing damage.  Or, have the barriers set up on the outskirts of major cities so homes wouldn’t be destroyed.  Also, I’d want a team of people all across the country, to be constantly patrolling possible landslide locations to watch for any land movement and send out warnings of a possible landslide.  I would like them to go and check at least bi-yearly and after periods of heavy rain.  I feel like Ireland would be well able to prevent landslides with their already existing tactics and also with the ones I have just suggested.

The places that should be targeted first for help and reinforcements would be roads and communities closest to large-scale hills, mountains and cliffs because landslides would be more likely and more damaging in those areas.  As for building my home, I would try to put my house far away from any hills, cliffs, and mountains for obvious reasons and it would probably be close to a city center than on the outskirts.  

Wildfires are not really a common occurrence for Ireland, but I chose them because I believe that with the rising temperatures and possibilities of droughts, fires could be a more often experience.  Plus, Ireland is covered in gorse, a wildflower that is invasive and burns easily as well as many vast forests.  In the recent events of wildfires, it was said that the fires were caused by deliberate actions whether out of recklessness or maliciousness.  One of the most recent fires was the one in the Cloosh Valley that started May 1st of this year and it’s burned roughly one-third of the forest due to the dry heat and the winds.  

 Cloosh Valley Forest fire

Other fires that occurred in the same time period, were said to be caused by farmers trying to clear fields of gorse and then just lost control of the fire.  

Air Corps involved in the Cloosh fire

Given the intense fire that happened earlier this month, Ireland had the fire department, Army Personnel, the Air Corps, helicopters , and their local Coillte all working together to help put out the fires.  The Coillte, is the Irish group in the forestry business.  I would like to add awareness posters and signs near possible fire hazards like open grass fields and forests.  It would be good to have fire safety classes that hand out license to permit someone to have campfires, bonfires, etc. to those who have completed the classes.  Those who go camping or just to have campfires or bonfires in parks and forests should have to present a fire safety license in order to be allowed to have a fire anywhere near grass fields or forests.  I feel like that would prevent recklessness and eliminate unnecessary fires.  Also, farmers who want to clear fields for their use, must go through the fire department and must have them take care of clearing the fields so there’s less of a chance of losing control of the fire.  

When it comes to places that would need help first, it would be communities close to forests or open fields which is a lot of Ireland so it’s hard to specifically say where to target first.  It’s just important to pay attention to the biggest threats of wildfires which are large, open grass fields and forests.  As far as house placement, I would put it in larger cities, not because I like big cities, but because it’s farther from open plains that could easily catch on fire over a minor mistake.  It’s just safer in places with less open grass and forestry when it comes to wildfires.

Thanks for sticking it out with me this semester you guys! I’ve had a blast learning about my country and all the other ones.  There is my final blog for you all.  Enjoy!

Sources:

https://www.gsi.ie/NR/rdonlyres/829D5C0E-3E21-429F-88E3-82F899D11CA2/0/Landslidesin_Ireland.pdf

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/derrybrien-landslide-killed-up-to-100-000-fish-board-claims-1.388773

https://www.gsi.ie/Programmes/Quaternary+Geotechnical/Landslides/National+Landslide+Database.htm

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2017/irelands-gorse-wildfires-creating-havoc-0

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/wildfires-rage-across-ireland-as-dry-weather-continues-1.3076493

Coastal Problems In Ireland

Well, Ireland has its fair share of coastal processes which are mainly linked to the rise in sea level.  Ireland experiences a lot of coastal flooding and coastal erosion which occur due to storms as well as climate change.  The seal level rise will become most apparent in the major cities like Cork, Limerick, Dublin and Galway do to the topography of their location.

As well as coastal flooding, Ireland experiences coastal erosion which can be a thing on its own, or an aftermath of coastal flooding.  Just like flooding and coastal flooding, costal erosion causes a lot of damage.  The coasts of Ireland are made up of sandy beaches to rocky cliff sides which are both affected by erosion and flooding.  The current rates of land loss in Ireland due to coastal flooding and erosion has been estimated to about 1.6 km/yr, concentrated in roughly 300 areas. So Ireland is losing a decent amount of land yearly due to these coastal processes.  It causes some real damage.

As far as Ireland's mitigation and alert system, there is this website that speaks of a study of how the country can protect its coasts from flooding and erosion (http://www.opw.ie/en/flood-risk-management/floodanderosionmapping/icpss/).  It also contains methods of predictions and other strategies to protect the coasts more so.  So Ireland is doing something to get people more informed about the damage that can be done in the future if coastal protection strategies are not taken seriously now.

Sources:

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/extreme-coastal-flooding-in-ireland-predicted-as-irish-sea-levels-rise-156890325-237507771

http://www.climatechangepost.com/ireland/coastal-floods/

http://www.climatechangepost.com/ireland/coastal-erosion/

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/latest-wave-of-flooding-in-ireland-and-uk-a-taste-and-warning-of-things-to-come-1.1646314

Extreme Weather: Tornadoes!

Hello again!  This week is going to a be a little different because I'm going to be focusing on tornadoes in Germany.  Yes, I said Germany.

First off, tornadoes known to be one of nature's most violent and destructive natural processes (305).  Tornadoes can go by different names like twisters or cyclones.  Although, cyclones are more closely related to hurricanes.  Tornadoes form where there are large differences in the atmospheric over a short distance; in easier terms, it's a spinning column of strong winds.  They get classified by the intensity and damage that is produced along its path with the Enhanced Fujita or the EF Scale (306).

Well, Germany is no stranger to tornadoes, although they're not extremely common either.  A 2016 study of European tornadoes found that roughly 1,108 tornadoes have been reported in Germany from the mid 19th century to 2005.  IT's quite a long time lapse, but that's still a decent amount of tornadoes. The majority of Germany's tornadoes occur in the heat and humidity of summer, but winter tornadoes aren't necessarily rare over northern Europe.

May 5th, 2015 tornado in Germany

Germany experienced a pretty neat phenomena on March 9th this year.  It was a more minor tornado but it was accompanied with a rainbow right off to the side of it.  This occurred in Kuernach, Germany.  It did, however, cause some damage.  More than 50 homes were damaged, several trees had fallen over, and 20 to 30 roofs were blown off.  Luckily, no injuries were reported.  In a situation as rare as this one, it is believed that the vigorous upper level disturbance may have provided enough spin and instability, or a very cold air aloft, to trigger a single thunderstorm spawning a ghost like tornado and a rainbow.

Almost a year prior to the tornado and rainbow duo, Germany experienced twin tornadoes on the 6th of June of 2016 in Schleswig-Holstein.

For the most part, Germany seems to get is fair share of tornadoes every year.  Roughly 4 to 10 tornadoes a year are reported in Germany.  Germany appears to be near the heart of Europe's stronger "tornado alley."  Tornado activity is at its maximum in July and its minimum from November to February in Germany.  The highest tornado Germany has experienced was an F4 on the F Scale.  Clearly tornadoes are less common in Europe as opposed to the United States.  Studies have calculated that roughly 300 tornadoes strike Europe a year while approximately 1,200 tornadoes strike the US every year.  Luckily, I live in California where i have yet to experience a tornado myself!


Sources:

https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/tornado-rainbow-germany-march-9-2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/06/07/video-dramatic-and-extremely-rare-twin-tornadoes-strike-germany/?utm_term=.8d90f1cc539a

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001AtmRe..56..233D

Keller, Edward A., Duane E. DeVecchio, and Robert H. Blodget. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. Boston: Pearson, 2015. Print.

Ireland's Mass Wasting/Movement

Ireland is no stranger to landslides, mudflows, rockslides, etc.  Over the last hundred years or so, Ireland has experienced its fair share of landslides.  In my second blog, it states how Ireland has experienced about 50 landslides since the early 1900s which were caused by excessive rainfall and then followed by dry periods.

Landslide Susceptibility

Landslides are more common around the edge of the basalt plateaus in the Counties of Antrim and Londonderry.  Mudflows and debris flows are significant hazards along the Antrim Coast Road.  Mudflows are usually triggered by ground saturation after heavy rainfall which have blocked roads near Glenarm manny times.  In County Fermanagh, landslides and large block screes (a mass of small loose stones) occur at the base of steep mountains slopes and along cliff lines at Magho, Belmore, and Cuilcagh.

Landslide in Waterford, Ireland

Mudflow in South Galway

In 2003, Ireland experienced two major landslides only a month apart.  The first occurred in September of 2003 in Pollatomish, a small city in County Mayo, Ireland.  It occurred after a period of intense rainfall and caused considerable damage to roads, bridges, and property.  Over 40 families had to be evacuated from their homes due to this landslide.  Luckily, there were no casualties during this landslide or any other so far.  The second landslide happened in Derrybrien of County Galway on the side of a hill called Cashlaundrumlahan in October of 2003.  About 450,000 cubic meters of peat (brown, soil-like material) was dislodged over a 32 kilometer area.  According to studies, it was said that this landslide polluted rivers so badly, that it killed 50,000 to 100,000 fish.  Locals believe it was caused due to the construction of wind farms in the Slieve Mountains at Derrybrien.  The affected area of the landslide was almost entirel forest, so no one got hurt.

Locals in Derrybrien trudging through the aftermath

Since 2003, the Geological Survey of Ireland has been involved in the development of a National Landslides database.  The National Landslides database takes past and present landslide events to help with predicting and preventing future landslides.  The database recently completed the Irish Landslide Susceptibility Mapping project.  In early 2004, the Irish Landslide Working Group was established to help prevent landslides and bring awareness to the locals.  All the events added to the Irish database is also added to the National Landslides database.  So Ireland seems to be pretty well equipped to further handle any future landslides.  Yay!

Side note: It's St. Patrick's Day and I have Ireland so here are some fun facts;
-Saint Patrick was the patron saint and the national apostle of Ireland
-he was given credit for bringing Christianity back to Ireland
-the three-leafed clover was his metaphor to explain the Holy Trinity
-the first parade was actually held in New York City in 1762 by Irish soldiers serving in the English
military
-St. Patrick's Day falls in the middle of Lent but it was sorta a cheat day for the Irish and they were allowed to eat meat and feast in the afternoon after church in the morning
-the feast consisted of "irish bacon" or corned beef and cabbage
-according to Irish legend, St. Patrick's name was originally Maewyn Succat but he changed it to Patrick after becoming a priest
HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY FROM IRELAND!

Sources:

https://www.gsi.ie/NR/rdonlyres/829D5C0E-3E21-429F-88E3-82F899D11CA2/0/Landslidesin_Ireland.pdf

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/derrybrien-landslide-killed-up-to-100-000-fish-board-claims-1.388773

https://www.gsi.ie/Programmes/Quaternary+Geotechnical/Landslides/National+Landslide+Database.htm

http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day

http://mentalfloss.com/article/55599/15-delightful-facts-about-saint-patricks-day

What Volcanoes?

Volcanic activity is typically related to the plate tectonics since the majority of volcanoes are located near active plate boundaries (128).  So the magma is the molten rock found underneath the Earth's surface while the lava is the magma that surfaces or erupts on to the Earth's surface.  The lava comes out of, what is called, a volcanic vent or fissures which are elongated cracks in the surface (128).

Well, for Ireland, the country is currently surrounded by extinct volcanoes.  For example, there's Slieve Guillon in County Armagh, Lambay Island in Dublin, Loch Na Fooey in County Galway, and Croghan Hill in County Offaly which are all extinct volcanoes in Ireland.  Given its location in the middle of the ocean on the Eurasian tectonic plate, there isn't much going on for Ireland besides the minor earthquakes.  So volcanic activity isn't very common and hasn't been in awhile.  In the picture below, if you know your world map well enough, you can find Ireland and see how there are no red dots anywhere near it (unlike poor Iceland).

(Ireland is north of Africa off the west coast or Europe.  One of the islands west of Poland, Germany, and France.  To the left of the UK.)

Although, Ireland has a rich history of volcanic activity.  It dates way back, like millions of years ago, but it's still very important to how Ireland came about.  Ireland, also known as the "Emerald Isle", is known for its reoccurring history of volcanic eruptions.  A majority of the eruptions are said to have happened in the Ordovician age when central and western Europe were believed to have been separate from Eurasia about 430 to 480 million years ago.  The volcanic activity during the Ordovician period left traces in paces like Arklow Head, County Wicklow, and parts of the coastline of Waterford.  Many towns and hills are supposed remains of extinct volcanoes.  The Giant Causeway in Ireland is an amazing attraction today that is evidence of ancient volcanic activity.  Around 60 million years ago, volcanoes began to erupt in the center of the large continent that consisted of North America and Eurasian, causing North America and Eurasia to break apart and, therefore, forming the Atlantic Ocean (see image below).

The Giant Causeway is made up of about 40,000 basalt columns that formed because of lava pushing  up through fissures in the ground.  It is quite a spectacular sight and shows so much history.  They are located in County Antrim off the northeast coast of Northern Ireland.  It was declared a world heritage site in 1986 and a national nature reserve in 1987.  It has become quite a big tourist spot to visit.  I can't wait to go see it for myself!  They are like nature's stepping stones. 

Since Ireland has no recent volcanic activity to warn its people about, Irish scientists have been helping Iceland by monitoring the Bardarbunga which is a stratovolcano under one of Iceland's glaciers for any warning signs of eruption and also keeping the government updated and informed daily.  The Geological Survey of Ireland has been putting together updates with the latest news on Bardarbunga and whether it's any closer to erupting.  Ireland also helps Iceland with their volcano watch.  Given what happened in April of 2010 with the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland that caused the shutdown of airspace above many European countries including Ireland, it makes sense that Ireland has joined Iceland in helping them with monitoring and warnings (128).  Even though Ireland has no current volcanos erupting or active, they are staying busy and involved with other volcanoes.  Given their history of so much volcanic activity, maybe, Ireland gets a break…for now anyway!

Sources:

Image 1: http://www.kidcyber.com.au/volcanoes/

Image 2: http://earth.rice.edu/mtpe/geo/geosphere/hot/volcanoes/volcanoes_b2.html

Image 3: http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/geology/gc065mya.htm

Image 4: http://www.ireland.com/en-us/amazing-places/giants-causeway/

http://www.irishcentral.com/travel/the-volcanic-island-of-ireland-the-emerald-isles-harmless-craters-125780058-237763971

http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-scientists-iceland-volcano-1633968-Aug2014/

Keller, Edward A., Duane E. DeVecchio, and Robert H. Blodget. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. Boston: Pearson, 2015. Print.

Ireland On Not So Shaky Ground

Ireland's experiences with earthquakes have not been all that exciting.  Ireland has fault lines but none of the major fault lines are at the edge of the tectonic plates.  Furthermore, the fault lines Ireland does have are not very active to begin with.  So, the earthquakes Ireland experiences generally leave the country unharmed by the minor shifting of the crust.  Ireland has the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and its six locations to record seismic activity.  The six stations include; DSB located in Dublin, VAL located in the island of Valentia, IGLA located in Galway, IDGLA located in the town of Donegal, IWEX located in Wexford, and ILTH located in the county of Louth.  The INSN is operated by the Geophysics Section of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).

Seismicity in Ireland and also around the country is relatively low.  Yes, Ireland has experienced 80 earthquakes in the last 30 years but they've all been very minor.  Some of this earthquakes were hardly noticeable to the people.  It wasn't until recently, that Ireland was more often considered aseismic, meaning, not characterized by earthquake activity.  For the Irish people, experiencing largely noticeable seismic activity is relatively rare.

The image above is on the funnier side of the reaction of the Irish when they have earthquakes because the last really sever one was in 1984 with a magnitude of 5.4 which shook buildings.  The damage it caused was some cracks in buildings or fallen chimneys.  So, overall Ireland has a low seismicity even though they have had their share of earthquakes.

As far as prevention systems or preparedness for earthquakes, Ireland does not seem to have very many out there.  I've looked for some and the most I could find are websites to take classes on how to prepare for disasters and other survival websites.  Given how many earthquakes they have experienced, one would think they would have more warning systems or prevention tactics.  Not in this case! If anything, different counties or cities will have their own local prevention systems.  Overall, the earthquakes are so minor since 1984, they don't seem so worried to reinforce buildings, set up warning systems, etc..  I'm hoping probably along side the Irish people, that it remains this way and Ireland continues to be a beautiful and calm island.

Sources:

https://www.dias.ie/cp/astro/geo-seismic-network/

https://www.insn.ie

http://geoscience.lyit.ie/geology/seismicity-ireland.html

http://www.newstalk.com/Ireland-on-shaky-ground-with-earthquakes-and-tsunamis-

http://www.survivalistireland.com

Keller, Edward A., Duane E. DeVecchio, and Robert H. Blodget. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. Boston: Pearson, 2015. Print.

What's Ireland Really Like?

Ireland is a beautiful island off the west coast of Europe, their closest neighbors being the UK.  One can't say Ireland isn't lovely.  But before anyone jumps on a plane to go visit Ireland, or any country for that matter, it's important to know what to expect from the trip, not only the language, food, clothes, sayings, etc. but also the hazards, and disasters for safety precautions.  Luckily for me, Ireland is relatively relaxed when it comes to any natural disasters.  Ireland is located on the Eurasian plate and it's off to the left side of it in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  The Eurasian plate are associated with major earthquakes, flooding, and mass wasting (see Table 2.4 pg. 36).  Mass wasting being slope movement or more commonly known as landslides.  The Eurasian plate is a convergent plate that collides but on the west wing, which is where Ireland lies, it acts more like a transform plate that slides past one another.  It's not close to the boundary of the plate so any form of natural disasters are mild to moderate.  Ireland is located on the Atlantic fringe of Europe which is influenced more by the Atlantic circulation instead of the continent.   Ireland experienced some extreme weather and storms and disasters in the past, although, recently nothing has been close to a catastrophe.  Since the early 1900s, Ireland has experienced 50 landslides which were caused by excessive rainfall and then followed by dry periods.  In 2009, Ireland experienced widespread flooding.

Flooding along the banks of river Shannon near Athlone

Ireland has withstood 80 minor earthquakes in the past 30 years.  That's a lot of earthquakes but they were very mild.  In 1984,an earthquake of 5.4 magnitude hit Ireland and nothing more powerful than that is expected to occur for awhile or forever.  The second largest  local earthquake in Ireland was a 4.0 in 2012.  With major earthquakes, tsunamis tend to follow.  Ireland experienced, what was called a tsunami, in 2011.  Although, "tsunami" is a bit of an overstatement because it was roughly a 46cm wave.  It is more like a tidal wave according to some articles.  Ireland does, however, have hazards of more tsunamis occurring but it seems unlikely to be anything major.  Where Ireland is located, it quite a calm location on the Eurasian plate away from any boundaries or volcanic activity.  Some ways were discovered on possibilities of tsunamis occurring due to landslides or earthquakes.  First, the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja in the Canary Islands could set off a tsunami in Ireland's direction.  Second, this thing called a submarine landslide, which is when a large volume of material moves or shifts underwater.  Finally, the Azores-Gibraltar fault which caused the two most recent tsunamis in Ireland in 1755 and 1761 due to an 8.6 earthquake in Lisbon.  Not so recent, I know.  As you can see, Ireland seems like an overall wonderful place to visit or even make it a home!  There are no recent disasters but Ireland is always on hazard watch because we can't predict mother nature perfectly, though we try.  So go check out some of Ireland's beautiful sites, especially the castles!

Location of 2012 Earthquake

Landslide Susceptibility 

Damage from flooding

Sources:

https://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/research/climate/CCRP_5_Kiely_ExtremeWeather_syn_web.pdf.pdf

http://www.newstalk.com/Ireland-on-shaky-ground-with-earthquakes-and-tsunamis-

Keller, Edward A., Duane E. DeVecchio, and Robert H. Blodgett. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. Boston: Pearson, 2015. Print.