Irish Examiner view: Thoughts of winter energy use as we bask in the sun

We must understand that our use of resources resembles wartime rather than peacetime

Firefighters tackle a wildfire near Saint-Magne, south of Bordeaux, France, on Friday. We all need to take exceptional precautions: a discarded cigarette can lead to conflagration; barbecues can be a very bad idea indeed. Picture: SDIS 33 via AP

It is counter-intuitive, to put it mildly, that at the very moment the mercury is heading towards 30C and we are worrying whether factor 50 is adequate protection for the Irish summer, thoughts of long, cold, winter nights should be nagging away at the back of our minds.

With Met Éireann issuing a yellow high temperature warning and the declaration of a status orange forest risk, we need to be careful. We have all seen what uncontrolled fire can do to countries with much larger resources than our own — California, France’s Bordeaux region, Australia — in very recent memory. Lives lost and property, woodland, and farmland destroyed.