Ireland's position in the Atlantic means we must work hard to tackle climate change

In Paris, an army of scientists and policymakers from around the world are grappling to produce a strategy to combat climate change. 

In Ireland, I’m sitting at my desk flinching as a storm batters the window. I’m wondering about the connection between the two events.

Climatologists are slow and cautious. Meteorologists are a bit more helpful. They not only forecast weather, they also record it and their records show that, beyond question, Ireland is already being affected by climate change. Between 1980 and 2008 the average temperature in this country rose by 0.4 degrees. Less than half a degree centigrade over 30 years doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s actually very significant, and so is the fact that the rate of increase is accelerating.

There are also increases in rainfall in the north and west but decreases or very small increases in the south and east. Storms, and associated flooding, have increased in frequency and intensity, particularly along the west coast.

Because we are an island in the north Atlantic we are particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change. These effects are more dramatic in polar regions than in tropical ones and we’re actually not that far from the Arctic Circle. And oceanic islands are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events and rising sea levels.

Not all the effects are bad. A reduction in the number of frost days in the year is extending our growing season which should result in an increase in agricultural productivity. The same may apply to fisheries as warm water species extend their range northwards.

However, there are other things happening in the Atlantic which may offset or reverse any gains. One of these is the worrying fact that the world’s oceans are becoming more acidic as greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere. Fish, and most other marine organisms, are badly affected by even small increases in acidity.

The fact that the sea ice to the north of us and the Greenland icecap are melting quite rapidly may also affect us. This could cause a change in ocean currents. These things aren’t easy to predict but ocean current changes would affect our weather as well as the marine life around our coasts.

A lot of the answers that scientists are coming up with still amount to little more than educated guesses. Practically the only thing you can say with certainty about climate change is that it is happening.

So what’s going on in Paris does have a direct connection to the weather outside my window. And I hope the Irish contribution to it amounts to something more than looking for derogations for our cattle farmers.

So far our track record isn’t great.