Irish climate warming at twice global rate

Ireland's average temperature is rising at twice the global rate and six of the 10 hottest years over the last century have occurred since 1990, a major report on Irish climate change has revealed.

The report, commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to analyse key meteorological indicators of climate change in Ireland, also found the west, southwest and north coastal regions are becoming gradually wetter, as a result of more frequent and intense rainfall.

Ireland's average annual temperature increased by 0.7 degrees between 1890 and 2004 with highest rate of increase occurring since 1980.

But while the rest of the world began to warm around the mid-1970s Ireland was still cooling down from the earlier part of last century until about 1981 or 1982.

The highest decadal rate of increase has occurred since 1980, with a warming rate of 0.42 degrees per decade.

"So we're catching up, we're making up for lost time," said the report's co-author Dr John Sweeney, of Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units (ICARUS).

"It's really since that time that we've changed as a country in terms of warming ... and warming at roughly twice the rate of the global average," Dr Sweeney said.

While the warmest year on record in Ireland was 1945, six of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 1990, the report also notes.

It found that between 1961 and 2005, the majority of weather stations recorded minimum temperatures increasing at a faster rate than maximum temperatures in spring, summer and autumn.

"With minimum temperatures increasing, the number of frost days has decreased significantly at all stations, especially in the midlands, while the length of the frost season also decreased," it said.

The report warns that drier summers may in the future lead to water shortages, impacting upon reservoirs and soil management.

The severity, frequency or duration of heat waves is also likely to increase in the future.

This is cause for concern, the report said, because of the impact of heat waves on human health, agriculture and water supply.

The report found that while there has been an increase in average temperature across the country, the north, west and southwest regions have become wetter with the number of days where daily precipitation was equal to or greater than 10 millimetres increasing.

Four out of five of the wettest years on record at Malin Head have occurred since 1990, the report observed.

While there has been an increased level of precipitation on the west coast, there has been "non-significant decreases" on the east coast.

The more frequent and intense rainfall, especially in the west and north, may have a significant impact on river flood management and the engineering and infrastructure industries, it warned.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley said: "The scientific debate is over, the evidence is incontrovertible,"

He vowed to introduce several initiatives before the end of the year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as other strategies to stem global warming.

Climate change was the main reason his Green Party entered the coalition government in May, he added.