Climate hazards

Different global regions and countries will experience different climatic hazards. This is because climatic hazards are the physical manifestation of climatic variability or change linked to the geographic reality of a region, e.g.: eroding shorelines and flooding extent, or high temperatures and drought conditions. Our level of exposure to a climate hazard determines the level of risk.

Ireland’s geographical features and prevailing climate mean that the key climatic hazards of concern are:

• Coastal erosion: rising sea levels will put Ireland's soft coastlines at increased risk form coastal erosion.
• Inland flooding: changes in patterns of precipitation will increase flood risk & will put new areas at risk.
• Coastal flooding: sea level rise will put coastal areas at increased risk of flooding.
• Water scarcity: increased temperatures and decreased summer rainfall may result in increased drought risk.