Irish temperatures to rise 1.8C by 2050
Monday, 27 April 2009 19:41
A new report has predicted climate change will have significant impacts on Ireland within a matter of decades.
This will include far more intense rainfall and an increased number of droughts.
Research conducted at NUI Maynooth and published by the EPA projects winter rainfall will increase by 10%, while summer rainfall will drop by up to 17% by 2050.
Read the report in full
EPA Director Laura Burke said the data will enable the country to plan and take actions to avoid the worst impacts but she stressed that such forward planning is required urgently.
The report also found that average temperatures will rise by 1.8C by 2050, and by more than two degrees by end of the century.
Two degrees is the point at which both the EU and UN believe catastrophic and irreversible impacts will begin to take place.
The report's lead author, Professor John Sweeney, says the largest winter rainfall increases are expected to occur in the midlands.
He added that by 2050, reductions in summer rainfall of between 20 and 28% are projected for the southern and eastern coasts.
This is project to increase to between 30 and 40% by 2080 - supporting expectations that the commercial growing of potatoes will become impossible.
During summer months, longer heat waves and drought may occur, which will be especially important for eastern and southern parts of Ireland.
Professor Sweeney advised a risk management type approach to adaptation will be required to take account of these uncertainties.
