The need to address potential impacts of climate change in Ireland has become increasingly recognised in recent years as the environmental consequences of rapid economic growth become more acute. Irretrievable commitments of finite natural resources such as soil, water, energy and land accelerate and require careful management if the quality of life of future generations is not to be adversely affected. For many projects, plans and programmes, a medium to long-term view of climate change impacts is an essential ingredient in this process in order that adaptation or mitigation can be undertaken. Ireland lies on the westernmost edge of the European continent on the fringe of the North Atlantic Ocean. As a consequence of its proximity to this large body of water and being situated within the prevailing westerlies of the mid-latitudes, its climate is predominantly maritime in character. Mean annual temperatures in Ireland have risen by 0.74C over the past 100 years (McElwain and Sweeney, 2007). This increase largely occurred in two periods, from 1910 to the 1940s and from the 1980s onwards, with a rate of warming since 1980 of 0.42C per decade. In Ireland, 6 of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 1995 with the warmest year within this period being 1997. Increases in minimum temperatures were greater than maximum during summer while in winter the opposite is the case (Sweeney et al., 2002). As with global trends, a reduction in the average daily temperature range has occurred, though this has now ceased in recent decades at the global level (IPCC, 2007). Significant temporal and spatial changes are also apparent in precipitation receipts in Ireland. Annual precipitation is increasing in the north of the country, while decreases in receipts are evident in the south. Increases in the frequency of rain and wet days were also found to be occurring during the months of March and October, with decreases in the May to September period and in December (McElwain and Sweeney, 2007). While the North Atlantic Oscillation was found to account for some of the variation in precipitation, other factors are necessary in order to account for the changes apparent in precipitation. The Irish climate is experiencing changes which have been found to be consistent with those occurring at a global scale and there now is growing confidence that these changes are largely attributable to global warming. This study has sought to narrow the scientific uncertainties for Ireland by developing novel downscaling techniques for combinations of global climate models and subsequently using the output to drive impact models in key sectors such as agriculture, water resources and biodiversity. however, it is clear that any impact analysis must be tempered by consideration of how Irish socioeconomic systems will respond in terms of adaptation and mitigation to a changed climate risk environment. While reducing the scientific uncertainty provides an essential input to policy processes, decision making about how to respond to climate change threats will be influenced by a range of other agendas. Ireland can and must adapt to the challenge of climate change. Barriers to this, both scientific and socio-economic, require to be identified and addressed in order that Ireland can be optimally positioned to thrive in a changing world.

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Sweeney, J. Fealy, R. Charlton, R.   "Climate Change in Ireland: Refining the Impacts for Ireland". Associated datasets and digitial information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=fccf9279-85fd-102c-9c91-0a68ec663af0 (Last Accessed: 2024-10-11)

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SAFER-Data Display URL	https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=110
Resource Keywords	Climate Scenarios Downscaling Regional Extremes Ireland Vulnerabilities Risks
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code	2001-CD-C3-M1
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme	Climate Change
Resource Availability:	Public-Open
Limitations on the use of this Resource	Currently SAFER-Data nor the EPA holds or has access to the data or information used to generate this report. In the event of obtaining access to datasets corresponding to this resource any datasets, data, or information resources being used in a journal article or other means of publication the original authors should be informed of this usage and an appropriate acknowledgement or citation is included within the published article. The EPA advise that this acknowledgement should take one of the following forms dependent upon how heavily the published work relates to the downloaded data: * Co-Authorship(s) for the original author(s)* Written acknowledgement within the body of the article* Written acknowledgement by means of the inclusion of a bibliography entry which clearly cites the original authors.
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download):	5
Project Start Date	Tuesday 1st May 2001 (01-05-2001)
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Monday 1st January 2001 (01-01-2001)
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Thursday 30th April 2009 (30-04-2009)
Published on SAFER	Wednesday 29th April 2009 (29-04-2009)
Date of Last Edit	Wednesday 29th April 2009 at 12:54:39 (29-04-2009)
Datasets or Files Updated On	Wednesday 29th April 2009 at 12:54:39 (29-04-2009)

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Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
This project looked at the island of Ireland: Multi-model ensembles involved three different Global Climate Modesl for downscaling to the Irish Synoptic Station Network (http://www.met.ie/about/weatherobservingstations/synopmap.asp). Hydrological modelling based on nine key catchments was undertaken using the future scenarios developed. The catchments studied where: Suir, Blackwater, Boyne, Moy, Barrow, Brosna, Inny, Suck, and Ryewater. The sites with minimum and maximum yield for grass, barley, maize, potato, and soybean were identified. These were clustered in regions such as East Ulster, East Leinster, Central Connaught, West Ulster. The impact of climate change on Semi-Natural Ecosystems in Ireland were studied Valentia, Co. Kerry, John F. Kennedy Arboretum Co. Wexford, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, and the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin city.

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In this section some supplementary information about this resource is outlined. Lineage information helps us to understand why this project was carried out, what policy or research requirements did it fulfil, etc. Lineage is important in understanding the rationale behind the carrying out of a project or the collection of a specific dataset etc. Links to web sites, applications, papers, etc are outlined to provide you with additional information or supplementary reading about the project or dataset

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The following is a list of projects, datasets, and resources on SAFER-Data from which users downloaded attachments from soon after downloading attachments from this resource Climate Change in Ireland: Refining the Impacts for Ireland. You can view the full description for projects, datasets, and resources by using the links supplied.

• Climate Change - Implementationof the Global Climate Observing System in Ireland View Full Metadata Description
• Towards a National Soil Database View Full Metadata Description
• Water Framework Directive: Recharge and Groundwater Vulnerability View Full Metadata Description
• Critical Analysis of the Potential of Mechanical Biological Treatment for Irish waste Management View Full Metadata Description
• Environmental Sustainability and Future Settlement Patterns in Ireland View Full Metadata Description

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