It’ll get too hot to handle: dire warning over heat extremes
HEAT extremes in Ireland are to become more frequent and severe, a comprehensive new report has warned.
The implementation of measures to protect against future climate impacts is ‘too slow and fragmented’, the first Ireland’s Climate Change Assessment (ICCA) report stated.
It cautions that technological advances will only deliver short-term benefits if the country does not take major steps towards transformative change. The review, published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), found that Ireland needs to reach at least net-zero carbon dioxide emissions rapidly, and substantially cut other greenhouse gas emissions.
The report is the culmination of over two years of work that examines how Ireland’s climate is changing, how we can decarbonise our country, how we prepare for climate change and what the benefits are from transitioning to a low carbon society.
Some of the research was carried out by Trinity College Dublin’s Schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering.
Jennifer McElwain, professor
‘The future is in our hands’
of botany, said: ‘The future climate of Ireland is in our collective hands. In volume one of the ICCA report, we show that heat extremes in Ireland will become more frequent and more severe in the future with further warming.’
Despite reductions in every sector except agriculture, the EPA said Ireland has made ‘limited progress’ in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and that there is a ‘very long way to go’. Ireland is ranked second highest in the EU when all greenhouse gas emissions are considered on a per-person basis.
‘Deep, rapid, immediate and sustained emission reductions are required to keep global warming in line with the key Paris Agreement temperature goals,’ the report states.
It says delayed action would likely leave an Irish climate that is ‘increasingly unrecognisable’ as the century progresses. The ICCA said human activity has resulted in widespread changes which are affecting people today.
Worldwide, the most recent decade was likely warmer than any sustained period in at least the last 100,000 years.
The global sea level has risen by 0.2m since 1900, and the rate of rise is accelerating.
The EPA said recent extreme events in Ireland highlight the vulnerability of individuals, communities, sectors and ecosystems to climate change and indicate shortcomings in preparation. Annual average temperatures in the country are approximately 1C higher than in the early 20th century with 16 of the 20 warmest years occurring since 1990, and 2022 being the hottest year on record.
Overall, when aggregated, there has also been an increase in heavy precipitation extremes over Ireland.
Recent studies have highlighted higher rates of sea level rise than the global average since the late 20th century in Cork and Dublin. The EPA warned that storm surges and extreme waves will pose an increasing threat to Ireland as sea levels continue to rise.
Furthermore, increases in extreme floods and droughts are expected with impacts on water resources that will affect other sectors.
In 2021, Ireland legislated for five-yearly carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings which set a limit on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be released over defined periods.
EPA director-general Laura Burke said the report reinforces the need for the country to ‘pick up the pace of action’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.