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\n The aftermath of a wildfire this week in the West Midlands in the UK PA<\/p>\n
PEARSE STOKES CRADLED the tiny, motionless frog in his hand. Looking dried of all life, it was a victim of one of the several blazes that have ripped through Ireland\u2019s mountain forests this summer.<\/p>\n
The much-shared video by Kildare Wildlife Rescue laid bare the often little-seen effects of the blazes.<\/p>\n
Scorched woodland, arid crops and overheating homes have all combined to bring the worsening reality of climate change to Ireland this summer.<\/p>\n
Last month was Ireland\u2019s driest July on record, with 20 Met \u00c9ireann weather stations across the country recording \u2018absolute droughts\u2019.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been even worse across Europe \u2013 thousands of acres have been destroyed in recent weeks across France and Spain, with almost 12,000 heat-related deaths recorded in Germany this summer.<\/p>\n
Closer to these shores, fires reached a housing estate near Birmingham on Thursday, leading to 19 people hospitalised.<\/p>\n
\n The aftermath of a wildfire this week in the West Midlands in the UK PA<\/p>\n
PA\n<\/p>\n
John Gibbons, environmentalist and writer, didn\u2019t think Ireland\u2019s climate would get this bad this quickly.<\/p>\n
Gibbons said that five hot spells in one summer would have been thought impossible until \u201cmaybe in the 2030s\u201d, but that\u2019s not the case after these past few months.<\/p>\n
It started in May when temperatures hit 31 degrees<\/a> in parts of the country and has continued since.<\/p>\n The changing climate now appears to be in a \u201cphase shift,\u201d said Gibbons, accelerating faster than expected and potentially placing us in what is \u201ceffectively a permanent state of extreme heat\u201d during the summer months, and potentially the weeks either side.<\/p>\n \u201cThe shoulders of summer are spilling out,\u201d Gibbons said. \u201cWhere perhaps we would have seen July-August as periods that could see extreme temperatures, it\u2019s now spilling backwards to May.\n<\/p>\n We were only designed to cope with occasional spells of extreme heat \u2013 what we\u2019re seeing now is locked in rolling heatwaves.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n How people view climate change<\/strong><\/p>\n An Irish Times poll in 2019 found a majority of people viewed climate change as the \u201cmost serious issue facing the world\u201d.<\/p>\n While this question or versions of it are often asked in polls to capture the mood on the issue, it\u2019s now regularly ranked far down Irish voters\u2019 concerns \u2013 just 8% viewed it as in their top-two issues in a July poll by Ireland Thinks.<\/p>\n But from farming to the homes we live in, this summer\u2019s sweltering heat has often meant unbearable conditions for people.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not yet clear whether we will see a revival in the mood to tackle our climate, or if there are fresh ideas to try and ease these effects, let alone reverse them.<\/p>\n Will the topics we debated throughout this long hot summer lead to any action from political leaders in the months and years to come?<\/p>\n Impact on work<\/strong><\/p>\n If heatwaves keep intensifying and begin to breach 30 degrees, then Ireland will face tricky questions over what to do about its workforce in the 2030s.<\/p>\n According to UK think-tank Verdant<\/a>, for each one degree Celsius temperature increase above 30 degrees in Europe, a 3% reduction in average output per hour has been observed.<\/p>\n In a prolonged heatwave, the group warned, these hits to productivity add up to significant economic losses.<\/p>\n But the summer months are also when builders and the likes of county councils take advantage of the longer days and school holidays and intensify their works.<\/p>\n This week, the Irish Planning Institute argued that Ireland may need to accept the \u201cnecessary evil\u201d of electricity-intensive air-conditioning \u2013 a move that was immediately rejected by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is a growing debate in France<\/a> over the use of air-con, where 25% of homes currently have the cooling system.<\/p>\n A stand-off beckons in different sectors as unions push for a national maximum working temperature, both for indoor and outdoor workers.<\/p>\n The Labour Party is urging for legislation that could set this at between 25 and 30 degrees, depending on the intensity of the work.<\/p>\n Overheating homes<\/strong><\/p>\n But if you\u2019re not one of the local residents witnessing the harshest impacts of climate change up close \u2013 via the thickening smoke and wildfires licking closer and closer to their land \u2013 then it can mean that it can be business as usual for the many people who have not faced these impacts.<\/p>\n But that might be starting to change.<\/p>\n There have been mounting complaints over the conditions in various A-rated homes, as research by TU Dublin last year estimated that up to 10% of the country\u2019s housing stock is at risk from overheating, with the number expected to climb.<\/p>\n A home\u2019s rapidly rising temperature can be due to a variety of factors that go beyond an energy rating \u2013 from whether a house is west-facing, putting it in the line of fire of the sun for most of the day, to whether an apartment is single-aspect and lacking ventilation.<\/p>\n The situation is viewed as of enough seriousness that officials at the Department of Housing are working on a new report examining the risk posed by the extreme heat<\/a>.<\/p>\n The high-quality energy ratings are part of an effort to make Irish housing less reliant on fossil fuels, but their trademark quality \u2014 making sure heat doesn\u2019t escape a home \u2013 is backfiring in intensely hot weather.<\/p>\n Approved housing body Cluid told The Journal that this summer means it will be including guidance in \u201cour upcoming resident newsletter on how to keep homes cool during periods of warm weather\u201d \u2013 a first for the charity.<\/p>\n And as reported elsewhere this morning, we can see the impact the long hot summer has already had on people sleeping rough in tents<\/a>.<\/p>\n Where will this debate on overheating homes lead?<\/strong><\/p>\n It will likely intensify focus on the standards in new housing and apartments, at a point when question marks are being raised over the expenditure for high-quality homes, leading to some projects being quashed by the government.<\/p>\n At the same time, architects and politicians have challenged government moves to reduce requirements for new homes.<\/p>\n Gavin Lawlor, president of the Irish Planning Institute, told The Journal that he believes fears around the quality of homes are overstated.<\/p>\n \u201cI estimate about even 70% of planning applications that come across my desk go well beyond the minimum requirement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lawlor believes we may see a push by the construction sector to allow lower energy rated homes for new homes, with the decision to upgrade it to an A-rating being left to the homeowner.<\/p>\n This would likely go down as a lead balloon with climate advocates who would fear it will continue our dependence on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n Debates around how to manage this will further intensify in different ways.<\/p>\n A key plank of the government\u2019s platform is to switch large swathes of empty land to housing; these are often green spaces, which architects and others argue are crucial to keeping new homes cool.<\/p>\n Rising temperatures may yet become part of the battleground over what to do with green sites.<\/p>\n Wildfires<\/strong><\/p>\n Several fires have wreaked havoc on mountains and parks across counties including Kerry, Tipperary and Wicklow these last few weeks.<\/p>\n As previously reported by The Journal Investigates<\/a>, the danger is that many of these areas worst hit by the flames are also important nature habitats.<\/p>\n Since 2021, more than 300 fires have been recorded on Coillte lands, impacting over 2,500 hectares.<\/p>\n Valerie O’Sullivan\n<\/p>\n As for what comes next, the Green Party has urged immediate moves to ensure that emergency services have enough equipment, including helicopters, to be able to respond to fires.<\/p>\n Looking longer-term, environmentalists have urged that Coillte avoid replanting its burned plantations in the likes of Slievenamon in Co Tipperary with Sitka spruce, on the basis that the non-native trees are more likely to add to the flames.<\/p>\n Coillte disputes this argument, but told The Journal that it was still to assess the impacted areas before it embarked on any replanting plan.<\/p>\n Severe drought hits crop growers<\/strong><\/p>\n The president of the country\u2019s largest farming body has been touring farms in the worst-affected parts of the south and south-east in light of a severe drought.<\/p>\n Irish Farmers\u2019 Association (IFA) head Francie Gorman told The Journal that ongoing dry and hot weather conditions, coupled with soaring input costs, are putting significant pressure on crop growers, particularly field vegetables and potato growers.<\/p>\n Given this, Gorman said the government needs to recognise that growers are under major pressure to manage crops and maintain supply to their customers.<\/p>\n IFA president @gormanifa<\/a> visiting South Tipperary farmers this evening to discuss the ongoing drought. With another week forecast with minimum rain the consensus from farmers is action is needed from Government immediately before the situation worsens. @IFAmedia<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/CLugHOsBEO<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\n Water being dropped on the fires in Killarney National Park Valerie O’Sullivan<\/p>\n\n