The Environmental Protection Agency runs a climate change research programme which monitors climate change and the impact it has on Ireland. To date, the most obvious signs of global warming in Ireland are:
• Mean temperature increase • Fewer days of frost • Increase in rain in the north and west • Longer growing season.
If global warming continues, there will be serious environmental consequences, including: • Rising sea levels • More intense and more frequent storms • Water shortages in the summer.
ACT VITY
How do you think global warming will impact on agriculture in Ireland? Discuss with your group.
Acting on climate change
Climate change affects everyone in every country on every continent in the world. Therefore, everyone needs to work together to fight global warming.
The United Nations (UN) held a conference in Paris on climate change in December 2015, where countries committed to take action against climate change. Each country that signed the Paris Agreement agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. However, in June 2017 the USA withdrew from the Paris Agreement because President Trump felt that it would damage the economy.
The UN has a set of global priorities that the whole world must focus on between 2015 and 2030. These are called the Sustainable Development Goals and they cover all sorts of global issues. Goal 13 is to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
All countries are encouraged to prepare for the problems climate change might bring. There are a number of steps that can be taken to prepare for the effects of climate change. Take a look at the poster on the right and make a list of the precautions we should be taking now.
: Figure 14.22 Poster for Goal 13 of the UN’s Sustainable Deleopment Goals 265
Climates: Classifying climate types and Ireland’s climate
