Ireland in a Warmer World

How will Ireland be affected by Climate Change?

We hear a lot about climate change and global warming in the global context but to date it has been very difficult to make predictions as to how rising temperatures will affect Ireland specifically. To deal with this issue a new report has been released by the Community Climate Change Consortium for Ireland (C4I).

Institutions such as Met Eireann, UCD, NUI Galway and the EPA combined to create the report using computer modelling technology to predict what will happen to Ireland’s climate and landscape under a number of different warming scenarios. Although the models can never be 100% accurate, from what is known on the subject it is a good indication of what we face in the coming years.

Solar water heaters make sense.

10% decrease in heating days
An important fact most relevant to solar water heating is that as Ireland gets warmer the number of days we will need to switch on our central heating systems will diminish by about 10% in the mid term future. This is good news in terms of keeping space heating fuel bills lower but because the central heating will be turned off for longer households will need to use more electricity or gas to heat domestic hot water. Installing a solar water heater makes even more sense in this situation as it will minimise the need to turn on the immersion or boiler.

Some of the other main findings of the report include:

Storm Surge – an increase in storm frequency and a higher sea level and wave height will mean coastal areas will be threatened by larger storm surges and flooding.

Inland flooding – Increased levels of rainfall in winter will mean inland waterways/rivers will be prone to flooding.

UV exposure – Irish people will be at a greater risk of skin cancer as levels of UV radiation from the sun will be high and a warmer climate will encourage greater outdoor activity.

Click here to download the full report. Please note it’s a big file (7MB) so it might take a few minutes.