Category Archives: Global Warming
Ireland needs national food stockpiles – now
It has been a grim year globally for food production. And with a major El Niño building, 2027 is almost certain to be worse again. The globalised food system has worked well for decades in moving stocks around; if one … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming
Tagged Finland, Germany, National Oil Reserves Agency, Nora, Norway, Poland, Russia, stockpile, Sweded, Switzerland, Teagasc
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Slouching towards ruin with our eyes wide open
Bill McGuire is a volcanologist and prolific author who has been ringing the alarm bell on the climate emergency for decades. I filed a review of his latest oeuvre, The Fate Of The World, for the Books section of the … Continue reading
Posted in Extreme weather, Global Warming, Psychology
Tagged Bill McGuire, Irish Times
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When feeding the world is a fact, not a slogan
In June, I took the car ferry to Dunkirk, then drove from there to Amsterdam where I was based for several days of touring and visiting sites in Holland mainly related to their food sector, more specifically the famously productive … Continue reading
We need a Department of National Food Security – now
It’s been quite some time since I pitched an article to The Irish Times op-ed page, despite having been a regular there some time back. The below piece ran on Monday August 17th, under the newspaper headline: ‘The food industry … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Global Warming, Pollution, Sustainability
Tagged Denmark, Irish Times, Martin Heydon, Mette Frederiksen, Simon Coveney, Teagasc, The Lancet
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Stumbling ever deeper into the Pyrocene
I ran the below analysis piece in the Irish Examiner at the start of August, to coincide with Europe’s fourth heatwave of the crazy summer of 2026. Europe is heating at more than twice the global average, for a number … Continue reading
The heat is on: climate-fuelled carnage intensifies
I filed this piece with TheJournal.ie in late July as wildfires swept Ireland and Europe, and particularly in light of ongoing efforts by the current government to stymie climate action by undermining the 2021 Climate Act under the guise of … Continue reading
Taking tea with the President
AN undoubted highlight for me, not just of the last week but of the year, was a Courtesy Call on September 18th to Áras an Uachtaráin to present President Michael D. Higgins with a copy of ‘The Lie of the Land’. … Continue reading
Risky ‘global cooling’ projects mooted
Recording of my Last Word on the Environment with Matt Cooper broadcast on September 11th is below. We began by discussing controversial new plans to cool the global atmosphere artificially, using a range of possible technologies. As I explained, given … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability, TodayFM
Tagged IPCC, Matt Cooper, Phytoplankton, sea level rise
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Finding out the Lie of the Land
IT’S ALMOST two years since I was approached and commissioned by Penguin to write a book – my first – about Ireland and the climate emergency. While genuinely chuffed to be asked, I did also have something of an inkling … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
Tagged John Gibbons, Penguin, The Lie of the Land
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The perils of light pollution
Pod of the latest Last Word on the Environment, with Matt Cooper on Today FM, as broadcast on Thursday July 31st is below. We discussed the workings and finances of the hugely popular deposit return scheme for cans and plastic … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability, TodayFM
Tagged aviation, light pollution, Matt Cooper, recycling, Today FM
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ICJ ruling draws a line in the sand on climate action
Pod of The Last Word on the Environment, with Matt Cooper on Today FM, as broadcast on Thursday July 24th is below. We discussed the landmark International Court of Justice ruling on climate, plus a new study on the ‘boiling … Continue reading
Posted in Extreme weather, Global Warming, Media, TodayFM
Tagged food security, ICJ, IPCC, Today FM
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Untapped potential of district heating
Pod of The Last Word on the Environment, with Matt Cooper on Today FM, as broadcast on Thursday July 17th is below. Topics include district heating, ‘last chance tourism and reaction to sentencing of two men in England for cutting … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Media, TodayFM
Tagged District heating, Matt Cooper, Today FM, tourism
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Worst possible time to be led by the worst possible people
I haven’t written for the Business Post in a couple of years, so returned in late June with the below piece, which they headlined: ‘We must stop celebrating climate destroyers as captains of industry’. Among the topics covered was Trump’s … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Extreme weather, Global Warming, Politics
Tagged Allianz, aviation, Donald Trump, heatwave, insurance, NOAA, Texas
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Forty shades of misinformation around solar energy
What better time to write about the wonders of solar energy than during the ultra-sunny month of May 2025? Some 6.5% of total electricity production in Ireland that month was from solar, amounting to 173,000 MWh. This a new record, … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables
Tagged Darragh O’Brien, James O'Connor, Micheal Martin, Solar energy
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