Ireland's leading expert on climate change, Dr John Sweeney, has warned that both the Government and the public urgently need to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr Sweeney was commenting on a new international report which predicts that global warming is going to lead to the melting of arctic sea ice during summer months, resulting in the extinction of polar bears.
Over the past 30 years, arctic ice has shrunk by as much as 20%. The new report by the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment says arctic sea ice could be a thing of the past during summer months by the end of the century.
It is the largest arctic survey ever undertaken and concludes that if summer sea ice does disappear, then polar bears are unlikely to survive as a species because they will not be able to adapt.
