The final report of the EPA-funded ‘Carbon Restore’ project shows that breathing new life into cut-away and degraded boglands would provide climate, biodiversity, water and economic benefits. UCD based Dr David Wilson led the ‘Carbon Restore’ project and it was carried out with the cooperation of Bord na Mona which own much of Ireland’s depleted and degraded peatland.

The EPA research Report shows that:

* Restoring highly degraded peatlands can provide an important sink for carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas driving climate change;

* Restoring peat is possible as proven in a detailed study of a ‘rewetted’ industrial cutaway bog in Bellacorick, Co. Mayo;

* ‘Rewetting’ can be managed so as to take up carbon dioxide and limit the release of other greenhouse gases which can be produced when restoring peatland. 

* Other benefits in water management and biodiversity also accrue.

Laura Burke, EPA Director General, comments: “The report indicates that there is significant potential to using restored industrial peatlands to address climate change and other environmental challenges forIreland. Climate change is a pressing issue that requires long term strategic responses, including in the management of land use. This research also presents us with a vision of effective management of cutaway peatlands. Lands previously thought of as having little or no economic value are potentially valuable resources if subject to appropriate long term management.”

The report demonstrates that the need to address climate change means that peatland, and particularly degraded peatland, may have a new economic future.  Almost 13 per cent of Ireland’s land cover is peatlands, unique ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity and water management and function as major carbon stores.

NUI Galway’s Professor Colin O’Dowd (pictured) has been awarded the Appleton Medal by the Institute of Physics for his ‘distinguished research in environmental and atmospheric physics’. In particular, the NUI Galway physicist was lauded for his work on the formation and transformation of aerosols, the tiny particles which can effect cloud formation and impact climate change.

Sir Edward Appleton was a British physicist who received the Nobel Prize in 1947 for his achievements in ionospheric physics. His experiments proved the existence of a layer of ionised gas in the upper atmosphere, known now as the Appleton layer. The Institute of Physics, which has its headquarters in London, awards the medal every two years to identify and honour physicists who are today making remarkable contributions to science.

At NUI Galway, Colin O’Dowd is Professor in the School of Physics and Director of the Ryan Institute’s Centre for Climate & Air Pollution Studies. Professor O’Dowd is internationally renowned for his research into atmospheric composition, air pollution and climate change and has previously received the Smoluchowski Award and a Doctorate of Science from the University of Manchester for his research achievements.

Much of his work involves NUI Galway’s Mace Head atmospherics research station, which is one of the most advanced and sophisticated research stations of its kind. Data from Mace Head, located in Connemara, is used by climatologists and modellers around the world to predict global climate change.

Previously, Professor O’Dowd’s research has been recognised through the award of Fellow of both the Institute of Physics and the Royal Meteorological Society and with Membership of the Royal Irish Academy, the latter being regarded as the highest academic honour within Ireland.

Most of Europe’s wealth is generated in cities, and urban areas are particularly at risk due to climate change. Europe should seize the opportunity of improving quality of life while adapting to climate change in cities, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The report also warns that delaying adaptation will be much more costly in the long-term.

In Europe, temperature is increasing, precipitation is changing and sea level is rising. However, the effects will not be uniform across the continent, according to the EEA report, ‘Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe’.

The report is the first Europe-wide assessment of urban vulnerability to climate change. It argues that the distinct design and composition of urban areas compared to rural areas alters climate change impacts in cities, leading to many diverse challenges for cities within Europe. For example, a lot of artificial surfaces and little vegetation exacerbates heatwaves in cities . This so-called ‘urban heat island’ effect leads to much higher temperatures in cities than in the surrounding area.

“Most Europeans live in cities, which can be extremely vulnerable to extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change,” points out EEA executive director Jacqueline McGlade. “Many cities are now facing impacts such as water scarcity, flooding and heat waves, which are expected to become more frequent and intense than they are used to. Cities need to start investing in adaptation measures using ideas and best practice from around the world. The longer political leaders wait, the more expensive adaptation will become and the danger to citizens and the economy will increase.”

One example was the extreme rainfall that took place in Copenhagen in 2011. The city centre was flooded when over 150 mm of rain fell in during a two hour period on 2 July 2011. Insurance damages alone were estimated at Eur650–700 million. The frequency of such events is expected to increase in future due to climate change.

According to the report, roughly one fifth of European cities with over 100 000 inhabitants are very vulnerable to river floods. More than half of Europe’s cities have a low share of vegetated areas, which can strongly exacerbate heat waves. This is particularly relevant in cities where there is a high proportion of vulnerable people, such as the large proportion of elderly citizens in Italian, German and Northern Spanish cities.

Cities are heavily interconnected with other cities and regions in Europe. The report stresses that urban adaptation is therefore not only a local task but requires concerted action at all policy levels. The report draws attention to the important role of European and national policy in helping cities adapt to climate change by providing a supportive framework.

Such a framework includes a coherent and ‘climate-proof’ policy, a stronger territorial approach targeted at the specific challenges in different regions, a capable set of institutions and access to funding. Last but not least it calls for more knowledge to support a multi-level approach to urban adaptation.

Scientists have found that genetic information on the Antarctic octopus supports studies indicating that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could have collapsed during its history, possibly as recently as 200,000 years ago. The team, which included scientists from NUI Galway, Liverpool University in the UK and La Trobe University in Australia, found that the octopuses from Ross and Weddell Seas, which are now separated by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, are genetically almost identical.

This finding suggests that these two regions may have once been connected and may contribute to recent studies demonstrating the potential impact that increasing global temperatures could have on the changing Antarctica environment.

Genes from more than 450 Turquet’s octopuses, collected from species in the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica, were analysed to shed new light on how animals disperse across the varied ocean landscape. Adult Turquet’s octopuses tend to live in one place and only move to escape predators, leading scientists to believe that creatures from areas either side of Antarctica would be genetically different.

Dr Louise Allcock from the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway, explains: “A previous study has shown evidence that the Ross and Weddell Seas could have been connected. We wanted to investigate whether there was any genetic information that could tell us what the past environment could have been like, and this octopus species, with its large populations around the region and limited movements, was an ideal species to use for this. The fact that we found more similarities than we did differences supports the theory that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could have collapsed in the past. It also provides further evidence that scientists should continue to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on Antarctica today.”

Data on octopuses from other parts of Antarctica, not separated by this particular ice sheet, support the theory that the creatures are genetically different. They found that the depth of the ocean and its currents limited the movement of the octopus in certain areas, as would have been expected for those living on either side of the West Antarctic Ice sheet. This added further evidence that at some point in recent history this particular ice sheet might have collapsed.

The research is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the collaborative scheme for systematic research (CoSyst).

Ireland is preparing to host a major international Congress on Water, Climate and Energy over six days at the Dublin Convention Centre, from 13th -18th May. Several hundred delegates from over 60 countries will debate with world experts in various disciplines, the issues that impact on all facets of water, climate, energy and food – against the ever present backdrop of climate change.

The World Congress on Water, Climate and Energy is organised by the International Water Association (IWA) and will be opened by MEP Mairead McGuinness. Topics for discussion will include water treatment technologies; water resource management; waste-water and energy; the economics of water, planning and sustainable development.  Irish delegates are likely to be particularly interested in topical sessions on fracking and onsite wastewater treatment systems/septic tanks.

Speakers include:

* WCE Context –Paul Reiter (IWA); Mr PJ Rudden (President, EngineersIreland)

* Utility Efficiency – Dr Theo Schmidt (Vewin); Dr Martin Cullen (Intel Corporation)

* Climate Justice/Policy Coherence – Mary Robinson (Climate Justice Foundation); Kevin Parris (OECD)

* Smart Liveable Cities – Paul Brown (CDMSmith); Dr Colin Harrison (IBM)

* Infrastructure/Governance – Khoo Teng Chye (MEWR); Dr Genevieve Ferone (Veolia)

* ndustry Panel Debate – Moderator Dr Glen Daigger (Ch2MHill), IWA President

* Global Sustainability –  Einari Kisel (WEC); Dr Peter Heiland (SicAdapt);

* Technology and Innovation – Dr James Barnard (Black &Veatch); Dr Jonathan Clement (PWN).

Visit www.iwa-wcedublin.org to register for the IWA Congress.

Over 75 scientists will gather at NUI Galway for the annual project meeting of CARBOCHANGE (Changes in carbon uptake and emissions by oceans in a changing climate) on 7-9 March. The meeting will take place in the Aula Maxima at the University.

CARBOCHANGE is a large-scale integrating collaborative research project of €7 million funded by the EU 7th Framework Programme (FP7), and is coordinated by the Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway. CARBOCHANGE gathers a consortium of 28 research institutions, including NUI Galway, from Europe, North America and Africa with outstanding scientific expertise in the field of carbon cycle research.

The goal of the CARBOCHANGE project is to quantify the oceanic uptake of human-produced carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning and land use changes is the main contributor to a human-induced climate change. Currently, the ocean takes up about 25% of the worldwide annually produced carbon dioxide but this rate is subject to continuous change. CARBOCHANGE investigates how large this uptake rate has been in the past, how it is changing at present, and how it will evolve in the future. Carbon dioxide in the surface ocean has to pass through the bottleneck of oceanic mixing on its way to the deep ocean. Climate change and biogeochemical processes further modify the oceanic absorption of carbon dioxide. CARBOCHANGE employs cutting edge measurement and modelling techniques to watch the ongoing carbon dioxide uptake by the oceans, to understand the underlying processes, and to predict changes in uptake to come.

Dr Brian Ward, School of Physics and the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway, comments: “It is essential to know for human societies how much carbon dioxide is absorbed and where the human-produced carbon dioxide in the ocean is going. Key issues include: how the amount of carbon dioxide remaining in the atmosphere determines the strength of climate change; and that carbon dioxide taken up by the oceans causes the progressing problem of ocean acidification with potentially severe consequences for marine life.”

Dr Ward continues: “The participation of NUI Galway in this high-level international research project by NUI Galway underlines the expertise and importance of this institution within the climate research communities, both at National, European, and International levels.”

Keynote speakers at the CARBOCHANGE meeting are Professor Niki Gruber from ETH Zurich and Dr Brian Ward from NUI Galway.

Though they have survived fires, insect outbreaks and logging, the forests of Europe may now face their biggest challenge ever – climate change. Disrupted weather patterns could intensify droughts, fires, storms, pest infestations, species loss, and other natural calamities harmful or even fatal to forests.

Rather than wait until Europe’s forests begin to die off, the European Union is taking steps to prevent such a catastrophe. The EU is supporting leading-edge research to help forest managers decide what kind of trees they should plant now, and what kind of pests and diseases should be monitored today so they won’t become a problem in a climate-changed future.

“Forests are incredibly complicated ecosystems that climate change can disrupt in equally complicated ways,” says Herve Jactel of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, leader of the EU-funded research project BACCARA.

Launched in 2009 with Eur3 million in support from the EU, BACCARA is a four-year project that is working to assess how climate change will affect the biodiversity and productivity of Europe’s forests. BACCARA is one of many joint efforts being undertaken during the ‘Year of the Forests’, which the United Nations declared for 2011 in order to help conserve the biodiversity of forests and sustainably manage the world’s forestlands.

To remove some of the guesswork from managing Europe’s forests, BACCARA’s researchers are trying to predict how certain kinds of trees will fare in terms of growth and pest-resistance in the decades and centuries to come. Among their findings, researchers have learned that the very complexity of forests might be the best insurance for coping with climate change.

“Planting several different species of trees, for example, can protect forests from insect attacks better than planting just one type of tree,” Herve Jactel points out. “So if climate change can cause harmful insects to thrive, this would be a good strategy to combat pests.”

The problem for everyone involved with managing Europe’s forests is that many types of trees can live for centuries, so a tree planted today could have to deal with climate changes for a very long time. So the challenge is to design multi-species ‘mixed’ forests that are more resilient against climate hazards.

The economic stakes are high for Europe, whose forest industry is worth Eur25 billion a year and provides 4 million jobs. Totalling some 1 billion hectares, Europe has more forestland than any other region in the world – from cork-oak and cypress forests along the Mediterranean, to the Scots pine taiga of Scandinavia and mixed forests of the Caucasus.

Two new EU reports show just how serious soil degradation has become in Europe. The reports show that between 1990 and 2006 at least 680 acres (275ha) of soil per day were permanently lost through soil sealing – the covering of fertile land by impermeable material – amounting to an area the size of Leinster. Soil erosion by water is now estimated to affect 1.3 million sq km in Europe, an area equivalent to 2.5 times the size of France. Soil degradation affects our capacity to produce food, prevent droughts and flooding, stop biodiversity loss, and tackle climate change.

The reports underline the need for action to prevent the ongoing deterioration of Europe’s soils. Erosion, soil sealing and acidification have all increased in the past decade, and the trend is likely to continue unless challenges such as rising land-use, the inefficient use of natural resources and the preservation of organic matter in soil are addressed. According to the policy report, five years after the adoption of a Soil Thematic Strategy, there is still no systematic monitoring and protection of soil quality across Europe. This means that existing actions are not sufficient to ensure an adequate level of protection for all soil in Europe.

In preparation for action at EU level, the Commission has been working to support soil awareness initiatives, research and monitoring projects, such as LUCAS, a survey on land cover, land use and agro-environmental indicators run by Eurostat. The Commission has also continued to integrate the objective of soil protection into other EU policies, including agriculture and rural development. Around Eur3.1 billion has been allocated to the rehabilitation of industrial sites and contaminated land as part of the Cohesion Policy for the period 2007-2013.

In addition to ongoing actions aimed at addressing soil degradation, the Commission intends to support research and soil monitoring, finalise guidelines on soil sealing and integrate further soil considerations in the upcoming review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. The Commission will also propose accounting for land use, land use change and forestry emissions (LULUCF) as part of the EU’s climate change commitment for 2020, as well as work at the international level to promote soil-related initiatives.

The UK is set to be amongst the best prepared nations for the implications of climate change following publication of a groundbreaking study into the threats the country faces. The Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) highlights the top 100 challenges to the UK and its economy of a changing climate and provides the most compelling evidence yet of the need to increase its resilience. The research confirms the UK as a world-leader in understanding climate risk to ensure it can make robust plans to deal with these threats.

In order to provide a reliable baseline for decisions by Government, local authorities and businesses the research does not take into account any future policies or plans. However, a Government report published alongside the CCRA does highlight the many current and future policies already in place and gives details of plans which will address some of the risks identified.

The Government has also announced a National Adaption Programme that will prepare the UK for the effects of climate change, including the risks set out in the CCRA. Among the key risks the CCRA identifies, in the unlikely event the UK took no further action, are:

* Hotter summers present significant health risks. The CCRA projects that without measures to reduce the risk, there could be between 580-5,900 additional premature deaths per year by the 2050s. The Department for Health launched a Heatwave Plan in 2004 and updates it annually to provide advice and support for people vulnerable to hotter weather.

* Increasing pressure on the UK’s water resources. The CCRA projects that without action to improve water resources, there could be major supply shortages by the 2050s in parts of the north, south and east of England with the greatest challenge in the Thames River basin.

* The risks of flooding are projected to increase significantly across the UK. New analysis for England and Wales show that if no further plans were made to adapt to changing flood risks, by the 2080s due the effects of climate change and population growth annual damages to buildings and property could reach between £2.1billion and £12 billion, compared to current costs of £1.2 billion.

* The number of days in an average year when temperatures rise above 26 degrees C is projected to rise from 18 days to between 27-121 days in London by the 2080s. This could mean greater demand for energy to cool buildings and more heat related illnesses.

* Increases in drought and some pest and diseases could reduce timber yields and quality. Projected drought conditions could mean a drop in timber yields of between 10% and 25% by the 2080s in the south east, driving up timber costs. Pests and diseases, which thrive in warmer conditions, may also pose an increasing threat, such as red band needle blight – which causes loss of foliage and can lead to tree death.

The CCRA also highlights opportunities for the UK that climate change could present, including:

* Opening of Arctic shipping routes. The melting of Arctic sea ice could lead to the opening up of new container shipping routes and improved trade links with Asia and the Pacific.

* Milder winters may result in a major reduction in cold-related deaths and illnesses. Currently, cold weather results in between 26,000 and 57,000 premature deaths each year in the UK. By the 2050s, a reduction in these figures of between 3,900 and 24,000 is projected to occur due to increasing average winter temperatures. This would particularly benefit vulnerable groups, including those with existing health problems.

* Opportunities to improve sustainable food production. Sugar beet yields are projected to increase by 20-70% and wheat yields by 40-140% by the 2050s due to longer growing seasons if water and nutrients remain available. A warmer climate presents opportunities to grow new crops such as soya, sunflowers, peaches, apricots and grapes, while new markets may open up overseas for British grown produce.

The CCRA evidence will be used to develop a National Adaptation Programme (NAP) that will set out timescales for the actions Government will take to meet the challenges of climate change.

New research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, has detected a sustained energy surplus in Earth’s climate and warming below the sea surface since 2000 that is consistent with the continued build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Despite an apparent slow down in the rate of global surface warming over the last decade, the research suggests that the planet is steadily accumulating energy, at the rate of 0.5 Watts for each metre squared of the globe – equivalent to the heat of 250 billion kilowatt electric heaters distributed across the globe.

Global climate change results from an imbalance between the amount of sunlight absorbed by Earth and the thermal radiation emitted back to space.

Researchers from the US and British scientist Richard Allan, of the University of Reading, combined satellite measurements and sub-surface ocean observations to estimate the heat entering the planet since 2000.

Measurements of temperatures below the sea surface – up to 1,800m deep, more than a mile down – suggest that the oceans, which absorb nine-tenths of the additional heat caused by man-made global warming, are still getting warmer.

“Our results confirm that energy has indeed been accumulating in Earth’s climate since 2000 and that much of this ‘excess energy’ has been continuing to heat the sub-surface ocean,” says Dr Allan. “Contrary to previous reports of ‘missing energy’ unaccounted for by measurements, our results show consistency between changes in energy entering the top of the atmosphere and reaching the ocean.”

Dr Allan, whose work is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, was working with US-based colleagues from NASA, NOAA, and the Universities of Hawaii and Miami.

The full paper, ‘Observed changes in top-of-the-atmosphere radiation and upper ocean heating consistent within uncertainty’ (Norman G. Loeb, John M. Lyman, Gregory C. Johnson, Richard P. Allan, David R. Doelling, Takmeng Wong, Brian J. Soden & Graeme L. Stephens (2012)), is published in Nature Geoscience.

The Government has released the promised review of National Climate Policy. On foot of the policy set out in the National Climate Change Strategy 2007-12, Ireland is on course to meet its binding commitment for the purposes of the Kyoto Protocol in the compliance period 2008-12. However, beyond 2012, Ireland has clear and challenging greenhouse gas mitigation targets for the 2013-20 period, which are binding under EU law and which must be addressed in the longer-term context of transition to a competitive, low-carbon economy.

“Completing the review was my immediate climate policy priority,” says Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, TD. “It is an important stock-taking exercise, in terms both of the progress that has been achieved to date in reducing national greenhouse gas emissions and the deeper reductions to which Ireland, as a Member State of the European Union, is already committed to in the medium and longer term.”

A three pronged approach will be undertaken in order to develop the necessary policy mix to support an ambitious but realistic national mitigation agenda:

* An independent study will be carried out by the secretariat to the National Economic and Social Council;

* A public consultation, to be initiated by the Minister in 2012, will enable all stakeholders to engage in the policy development process; and

* Sectoral mitigation progress will be pursued through the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and the Green Economy based on positive engagement with the relevant Departments where progress must be made if we are to meet our legally-binding EU targets.

As a first step towards a national 2050 low-carbon plan, the Minister announced that he is asking the secretariat to the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) to undertake an independent piece of analysis to inform the policy development process. In parallel with the analysis to be undertaken by the NESC secretariat, the Minister has signalled his intention to initiate a substantial period of consultation early in 2012.

Minister Hogan continues: “My objective, in line with the Programme for Government, is to introduce climate legislation. However, the right policy must be in place before legislation can be introduced. Environmental protection and a competitive economy are complementary and my priority is to make sure we have the appropriate policy in place in order to make a successful transition to a low-carbon future; legislation should underpin policy.”

Pictured are Jim Barry, chairman of NTR Foundation, and Dick Budden, Ireland director of CDP.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the not-for-profit organisation that gathers data on how companies act to prevent dangerous climate change, is issuing a final call to Irish businesses to participate in this year’s project. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, 31st May 2011.

The Project, principally sponsored in Ireland by the NTR Foundation and supported by KPMG, acts on behalf of large international investors and invites Irish companies to measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies, encouraging them to set reduction targets and make performance improvements.

Dick Budden, Ireland Director of CDP, has called on Irish businesses to participate: “Investors want smarter, more efficient, more sustainable organisations. Consumers are also looking for more sustainable suppliers. CDP has become the established and accepted global standard for examining the possible impacts on business of the many factors connected with climate change. Last year more than 3,000 companies around the world responded to the CDP request, recognising that carbon management has a strategic role to play in reducing energy costs, generating revenue and remaining competitive. The deadline for entries for Ireland is 31st May 2011 and we look forward to welcoming more Irish firms to the Carbon Disclosure Project this year,” he said.

Chairman of the NTR Foundation, Jim Barry said: “The adverse impacts of climate change will be global and the risks are too big to ignore. But it is also increasingly evident that ‘green’ practices actually contribute to the bottom line and more and more companies are taking this on board. It therefore makes sound business sense, even in today’s global recession, to participate in CDP and demonstrate that your organisation is also assessing the challenges and opportunities of sustainable business practices.”

The CDP Questionnaire examines climate change practices; emissions reduction targets; climate change risks and opportunities; emissions data; zero or low carbon strategies.

The Questionnaire is circulated to 40 of the largest companies in Ireland listed on the Irish Stock Exchange; large organisations involved in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, including the major utility companies such as Bord na Mona and ESB; and other companies that volunteer to take part.

In Ireland, 33 Irish companies participated in 2010 and it is anticipated that this number will increase in 2011.

Questionnaires must be completed by Tuesday, 31st May 2011 and the Carbon Disclosure Project Ireland 2011 Report will be published later in the year.