Climate change delivered huge rainbomb

THE rainbomb dumped on the country by Storm Claudia was made twice as likely by human-caused climate change, an alarming new investigation has found.

- BY DANNY DE VAAL

A rapid-fire "attribution study" from Maynooth University, backed by Met Eireann scientists, has delivered a verdict on the catastrophic two-day downpour that saw Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow slapped with Orange warnings.

The researchers found that the sheer magnitude of the rainfall has also been cranked up by nearly 12% compared to a time before industry started choking the atmosphere with carbon emissions.

The report indicates that Claudia wasn't just bad weather; it was one of a growing series of warnings.

The floods that wreaked havoc in mid-November, following months of relentless, soaking rain, are a direct consequence of a world getting hotter, a world where the very air is now hoarding moisture like a dangerous sponge.

September was nearly 150% wetter than average, and October wasn't far behind at 123%.

By the time Storm Claudia rolled in, the ground was already saturated and the rivers were bulging.