Category Archives: Irish Focus
Bringing the climate emergency to book
When this blog first when live in late November 2007, the world was a quite different place. That year, global CO2 levels, as recorded at Mauna Loa, had reached an all-time high of 384 parts per million (ppm). Since then, … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
Tagged Business Post, George Monbiot, Greta Thunberg, Michael D. Higgins, Michael Mann, Naomi Oreskes, ThinkOrSwim
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Silent killers of the biosphere revealed
I ran this article in the Irish Examiner in early October to mark and honour the 60th anniversary of the publication of ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson, the book that was arguably the foundation event for the modern environmental movement. Vilified … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Dave Goulson, DDT, imidacloprid, pesticides, Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
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Sorting scientific fact from fiction on climate
Seeking out and clinging to reassuring myths as an antidote to the often frightening realities around the climate emergency is a surprisingly common reaction among the public, and even persists amid the all-too-obvious signs of climate breakdown happening in real … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Psychology
Tagged climate denial, Irish Examiner, myths
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Coming up short on fanciful sectoral emissions goals
As the controversial sectoral budgets for Ireland were published, the Irish Examiner asked for my take on how they measured up, particularly the ultra-low 25% target assigned to Ireland’s largest polluting industry. This piece ran at the start of August. … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged CCAC, Charlie McConalogue, dairy, Eamon Ryan, Marie Donnelly, Solar energy, Teagasc
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Shadow of war throws new focus on nuclear energy
One source of near-zero carbon for energy production that is often overlooked and excluded from serious consideration is that of nuclear energy. In ordinary circumstances this might be understandable, but in a dire climate emergency, I find it baffling that … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Nuclear
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The 1.5C danger line draws ever closer
I contributed the article below to TheJournal.ie in mid-May to mark the publication of a worrying new report from the World Meteorological Organisation. Tried to stress for the umpteenth time that physics is indifferent to the many political, economic, social, … Continue reading
Posted in Arctic, Energy, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged heatwave, Sinn Fein, TheJournal.ie, Ukraine, WMO
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Turf wars signal betrayal on climate action
The bizarre and pointless recent ‘turf wars’ are a throwback to an Ireland many of us thought was gone forever. The scramble by politicians to outdo one another in capitulating to a handful of industrial turf cutters and their noisy … Continue reading
Can we reimagine a better, safer world?
It sometimes feels like our collective inability to respond to the global climate and ecological emergency is first and foremost a failure of imagination. We are conditioned to see the world the way it is, and can easily assume there … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Antonio Guterres, food security, IPCC, Irish Examiner, Ukraine
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Food and energy insecurity mean double trouble
The long-banished spectre of food insecurity has returned to Europe for the first time since the 1940s. I wrote the below piece for the Business Post in late March which looked at the intersection of energy and food security in … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged ESRI, Horticulture, John FitzGerald, Mark Mellett, Ukraine
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EU decries attacks on Irish environmental defenders
The well-worn narrative emanating primarily from the Irish agri sector and amplified by a cohort of vocal rural TDs is that, despite being the true custodians of the natural environment, they are being constantly “demonised” by over-zealous environmentalists, animal welfare … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability
Tagged An Taisce, Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea, Jackie Cahill, SLAPP suits
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Things are Looking Up as climate crunch hits funny bone
It will come as no surprise to regular ToS readers to learn that the biggest ‘story’ of the 21st century, or perhaps 66 million years of Earth history, is the rapidly unfolding climate emergency and simultaneous global mass extinction event, … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Psychology, Sustainability
Tagged Baba Brinkman, Business Post, Don't Look Up, Joe Duffy, Netflix
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Confronting consumerism for a safer future
Among the many challenges we face this decade is how to achieve radical decarbonisation in a way that does not entirely alienate the public. This is no mean challenge. After all, we are all bombarded with constant advertising and promotional … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Psychology
Tagged Climate Action Plan, consumerism, COP26, Kantar, RTE
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No national security without food security
We often hear about Ireland’s supposed role in “feeding the world”. The reality is altogether different. Despite the hype, domestic food insecurity is a very real concern in the difficult decades ahead. I explored this issue in detail in a … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming
Tagged CCAC, Charlie McConalogue, Chatham House, dairy, Livestock, Primetime, tillage
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The library of our living planet is burning down
Shortly before the COP26 climate conference began, another global conference, this one on biodiversity, known as COP15, took place in Kunming, China. My piece around the global biodiversity crunch ran in the Business Post in late October. THE NATURAL WORLD is … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Pollution, Sustainability
Tagged Biodiversity, IPBES, IUCN, Kunming, Living Planet Report, Malcolm Noonan, NWPS
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No time to lose as climate clock approaches midnight
This article was published in the Irish Times in late October, just days before the start of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. AHEAD OF the upcoming UN’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, many countries are now revising their nationally … Continue reading
Posted in Arctic, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Chatham House, COP26, IPCC, Peter Thorne
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