An inconvenient truth: Warning of more extreme weather as climate change effects hit home

The country will have to brace itself for more extreme weather events as the effects of climate change hit home with potentially devastating effects on property and infrastructure.

A leading climate change expert has warned that even if targets on greenhouse gas elimination are met, the worst effects of global warming have yet to be seen in Ireland. And he said he doubted authorities here had the expertise or resources to prepare properly for what is to come.

Peter Thorne, of Maynooth University, director of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, gave his grim forecast as Donegal and adjoining counties began counting the cost of Tuesday night’s raging storm that caused flash flooding, ripped up roads and washed away bridges in just a few hours.