Category Archives: Irish Focus

Postings with a specific Irish angle

The psychology of bracing for very bad news

Posted on February 16, 2013 by John Gibbons

Below is my second article from Village magazine’s special issue on climate change: Once upon a time the people wearing the sandwich boards proclaiming that ‘The End is Nigh’ were a reassuringly small, fringe group of individuals, many clearly suffering from … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Psychology | Leave a comment

Safe bet that this year will be one of the hottest yet

Posted on January 11, 2013 by John Gibbons

Below, my article from today’s Irish Times, where I took a slightly different tack and asked the ‘real experts’ on risk, i.e. the bookies, to give the odds on 2013 being yet another year for the record books. The results … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics | Leave a comment

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

Posted on December 24, 2012 by John Gibbons

“You must feel vindicated, what with Hurricane Sandy and the way the weather and climate change has gone this year”. That’s how a business acquaintance of mine put it the other day during a pre-Christmas lunch. Her point was that … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Psychology | 8 Comments

Steady as she goes: global climatic denial guarantees chaotic future

Posted on November 30, 2012 by John Gibbons

Below is the full, 800-word version of my article, a compressed version of same appears in this morning’s Irish Times, which runs to just 600 words, so a quarter of the original piece fell under the subs’ desk knife. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media | 1 Comment

Humanity’s killing spree about to come full circle

Posted on November 6, 2012 by John Gibbons

With apologies for an uncharacteristic outbreak of navel-gazing, below, my article as it appears in the current issue of ‘Village’ magazine… My interest in environmentalism is barely 10 years old. For the bulk of my adult life, far meatier concerns … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

The Arctic ice cap is melting – and with it goes our future

Posted on September 27, 2012 by John Gibbons

Below, my article, as it appears in today’s Irish Times. The piece has ‘gone viral’ via social media, with over 2,500 ‘Recommends’ on Facebook alone, and it was No. 3 in the ‘Most Read’ category of Irishtimes.com last week. Not … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Myths and mischief-making in renewable energy reporting

Posted on August 31, 2012 by John Gibbons

I couldn’t have claimed to be Ireland’s greatest fan of wind energy. Not because I don’t think it’s a good idea – it is – but rather, my concern is whether it will ever be deployed on a scale sufficient … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers: A crosscutting international instrument for advancing sustainability

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Mark Keenan

The current global ecological situation is perilous to humankind. Accumulated releases of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are causing climate change and eco-toxic releases are significantly impacting the environment and human health. Global eco-systems and resources are in decline. There is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Doom with a view? Trap tightens on our diminishing prospects

Posted on May 15, 2012 by John Gibbons

In the current issue of ‘Village’ magazine, editor Michael Smith has explored at length and in some depth the array of formidable challenges that humanity (and all other species on Earth) face in the years and decades ahead. It’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

An interview with Irishenvironment.com

Posted on April 2, 2012 by John Gibbons

Robert (Bob) Hernan is the man behind Irishenvironment.com, an online resource for all things in the environment and ecology field on the island of Ireland. Bob was formerly Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Bureau, and his professional scalps … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media | 2 Comments

Media throws in the towel on coverage of climate change

Posted on January 24, 2012 by John Gibbons

Below, my article, as it appeared in last Thursday’s Irish Times (and fair play to the IT for running a piece that is openly critical of its own editorial policy in this area; that’s the true mark of a serious … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Phoney war ends as military eyes up new ecological foe

Posted on November 25, 2011 by John Gibbons

Late last year, Village magazine carried a cracking article entitled ‘Our deluded ESRI’, which opened as follows: “Patchy and boosterist forecasting, unquestioning neo-liberalism, an unempirical attitude to science and systemic ambivalence to environmentalism taint the performance of this apparently domestically-unassailable … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics | 9 Comments

Hogan’s U-turn on climate is short-sighted and damaging

Posted on November 7, 2011 by John Gibbons

Below, my article as it appears in today’s Irish Times: WILL THE real Phil Hogan please stand up? On June 16th last, responding in the Dáil to questions from Sinn Féin’s Martin Ferris on whether climate change legislation was being … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus | Tagged , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Population surge difficult to halt and almost impossible to reverse

Posted on October 31, 2011 by John Gibbons

My article, as it appears in this morning’s Irish Times: Today, just like every day for the last 50 years, around half a million babies will be born. Every 16 days or so, the equivalent of the population of Ireland … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability | 22 Comments

How to demolish a denier: scientist fillets Pat Kenny

Posted on September 27, 2011 by John Gibbons

Prof Richard Somerville of the University of California is one of the world’s top climate experts. A lead author for the IPCC’s AR4, he is research professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He is also a big fan of … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics | Tagged , , | 28 Comments