High temperatures for Ireland this week but UN warns of impending climate 'catastrophe'

Mon, 21 Mar, 2022 - 17:00

Sean Murray and Steve Neville

As temperature are predicted to hit the high teens in Ireland this week, global experts are warning of the damage that could be done if urgent steps are not taken to reduce the impacts of climate change.

Temperatures are set to reach highs of 17C or 18C and Met Éireann says high pressure “will dominate our weather through the rest of the week and over next weekend too”, with largely dry and sunny conditions.

Wednesday and Thursday are likely to be the nicest days and Met Éireann says the current indications heading into the weekend suggest "it will continue mainly dry and sunny for Friday".

However as Ireland can look forward to pleasant conditions this week, startling heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles are causing alarm among climate scientists, who have warned the “unprecedented” events could signal faster and abrupt climate breakdown.

Dr Hannah Daly, a lecturer in energy systems at UCC, said that what have been unprecedented and extreme weather events “are now happening more frequently and these events bear the fingerprints of human-caused climate change”.

“As long as we keep emitting greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels and unsustainable agriculture, we contribute to irreversible changes to the climate and damage vital Earth systems that are required to sustain life,” she said.

“We need a huge societal push to stop emitting these gases as quickly as possible — many solutions already exist and can save people money.”

The head of the United Nations warned countries scrambling to replace Russian oil, gas and coal supplies with any available alternative may fuel the world's "mutually assured destruction" through climate change.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the "all-of-the-above" strategy now being pursued by major economies to end fossil fuel imports from Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine could kill hopes of keeping global warming below dangerous levels.

"Countries could become so consumed by the immediate fossil fuel supply gap that they neglect or knee-cap policies to cut fossil fuel use," he said by video at an event organised by The Economist.

This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction."

Mr Guterres said that "instead of hitting the brakes on the decarbonisation of the global economy, now is the time to put the pedal to the metal towards a renewable energy future".

His comments came as scientists on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change began a two-week meeting to finalise their latest report.

With temperatures already about 1.2C higher now than before industrialisation, keeping the Paris target alive requires a 45% cut in global emissions by 2030, he said.

But after a pandemic-related dip in 2020, emissions rose again sharply last year.

"If we continue with more of the same, we can kiss 1.5 goodbye," he said.

"Even 2C may be out of reach. And that would be a catastrophe."

Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists