Global warming is here, says Met Éireann

TEMPERATURES in October were more than two degrees higher than normal confirming that the country is experiencing what Met Éireann described as the first effects of global warming.

In Valentia and Belmullet it was the warmest October since Samuel Beckett left to collect the Nobel Prize in 1969 and in most other stations it was the hottest since 2001.

Figures for the month were two degrees higher than the 30-year standard used by meteorologists to record settled weather patterns, while for the past three years the average temperature has been at least half a degree higher than the standard.

Peter Lennon of Met Éireann’s climate section said that the consistency of the south and south westerly winds brought heavy rain in places and caused flooding in the south of the country but the temperatures remained stable and high.

Mr Lennon said these weather patterns can no longer be blamed on once-off hot summers and that the planet is definitely heating up.

He said: “For the last number of years the trend has all been in the same way, and that is warmer. Obviously it is not just being noticed in Irish stations so all indications suggest that this is the effect of global warming.”

Nine months this year have exceeded the normal expected temperatures, and March, which was the only colder month, witnessed extreme ground temperatures dropping to minus 16 degrees in places.

This was after January and February were drier and warmer than many other years on record.

Mr Lennon said: “These are noticeable changes but against what is possible over the next 50 years the biggest changes have yet to happen.”

September has already been filed away as the warmest on record and the extreme readings in some areas continued throughout the past four-and-a-half weeks.

In the east and south, rain levels were 50% higher than normal and Valentia had its wettest October day for 29 years.

According to Met Éireann their is nothing to suggest that the climate changes that have surfaced in recent years will not continue.

Although there is nothing to suggest the Gulf Stream is having less importance on the Irish climate as global warming persists.