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MET ÉIREANN HAS said that Ireland is on track to have its “warmest year on record”, sounding a climate-change alarm bell.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) is due to release a report tomorrow about the state of the world’s climate at COP28, a UN conference taking place in Dubai.
Ahead of the global report, Met Éireann has shared provisional data about Ireland’s climate so far this year, stating that it will likely be the warmest year on record — for the second year in a row.
The national forecaster said there is potential that the annual mean temperature will breach 11 °C for the first time.
It is also seeing one of the wettest years on record, with the annual average rainfall total already in the top 20 wettest years with another month still to go.
“This year, Ireland had its warmest January-November on record so far and is on track to have the warmest year on record for the second year running. Currently, 2022 is the warmest year on record in Ireland, with a record length going back to 1900 (124 years),” Met Éireann said in a statement.
The wettest year was in 2009, out of records going back to 1941 (83 years).
2023 has been Ireland’s second wettest January-October to date.
With slightly over one month remaining in the year, Met Éireann said that ”if the mean temperature for November remains above 8 °C and the December mean temperature finishes above 6 °C, it will likely be the warmest year on record”.
“If the average gridded rainfall for December finishes roughly 40% above its 1981-2010 long-term average (LTA), it may also be the wettest year on record (this analysis is less certain and subject to change when all station rainfall observations are incorporated).”
Met Éireann Head of Climate Services Keith Lambkin said: “Ireland has seen a remarkable year with rainfall and warming at unprecedented levels at times.”
“These record-breaking extremes have knock-on consequences to much of society. This is why Met Éireann are continually developing tailored climate information, with our many partners, to help Ireland better plan and adapt to our changing climate.”
The findings come as leaders prepare to meet in Dubai from tomorrow for COP28, the 28th annual UN summit bringing countries together to make decisions about how to address the climate crisis.
This COP comes alongside the first ‘Global Stocktake’ — an assessment of to what extent countries are working towards meeting climate targets set in 2015 under the Paris Agreement.
Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are driving global temperatures upwards and are leading to devastating consequences for humans, animals and plants.
These impacts are forecasted to grow increasingly worse unless greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced.
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I bough basil, thyme, parsley, mint and coriander in Lidl and planted them outside and they are thriving. My herb shopping days are truly over.
IYou are lucky to get basil to thrive Derek,it can be a challenge in the Irish climate. As for mint, I hope you didn’t make the mistake of planting it in the open garden.
Both basil plants are sturdy and healthy looking thankfully and the mint, both of them got a bit of a pruning as they were growing to tall and stalky initially but doing well now. Is there something about mint I should know when grown outdoors?
I think mint plants tend to overtake flower beds. Like little Borg plants.
As Nicholas has touched on Derek, mint is an absolute thug, it will spread everywhere and is very difficult to control or eradicate. I would suggest you dig it out immediately and plant it in a pot, make sure you get every last bit.
As far as basil is concerned, it is unlikely to survive too long in the open ground in Ireland, too wet too dull and too cold. It needs to be in a pot in a sunny spot.
Sorry, I should have got what you meant, the mint is spreading all right but I do grab a few leaves for the kitchen and snip it back occasionally.
They spread their roots under ground and take over. Should have planted them in a container. On the plus side you’ll have plenty of mint next year.
That’s good to know, thank you, I’ll see about digging them out and potting them before they get out of hand.
the price of some native fruit here in the supermarkets is off the wall. when I think of my grandmothers garden and the stuff she used to grow. literally hundreds of Euro worth of stuff at today’s prices and at the time we didn’t think anything of it.
Great tips there, never heard of pine mouth before. Any way of knowing if the pine nuts are contaminated before you eat them? I love pine nuts, especially roasted in salads.
I had a bout of pine mouth a few years ago, was nasty and lasted about a week. It’s one of those things that isn’t really understood but anecdotally is thought to come more from imported Chinese pine nuts.
I haven’t touched pine nuts since either as it takes a few days to develop do there’s no way to tell if it’s coming.
Every drug dealers nightmare. A marijuana plant facing their house.
They grow very well in the tomatoe patch, just make sure your garden wall is high enough for a healthy plant to hide behind ;)
when i lived abrod i tryed to grow maruana but i kiled it by acident nd tryed to smoke dog poo insted lol. it is bad.
Sounds like a random thing you’d do anyway Ripper..
anonymous accounts can be funny at times but please give it a rest. there’s an open mic night near the HA penny bridge if you want to give reality a go
tank u jimmy. kevin will u go with me plz?
I love thyme and some other herbs and have tried to grow them in pots or window boxes but they didn’t last very long and were very poor to begin with. I must be doing the same caring things because I have tried a few times and failed. Very frustrating ! When my daughter moved house there was a beautiful Rosemary bush grown in the garden. Nice bonus !
I just checked the area under my nose and I found three varieties of herb.
A wash might help that, lol.
The live herb plants in supermarkets are really cheap and on par price wise with the few sprigs you get on the cellophane.
More of these please!
I had a rosemary bush in my garden every now and then I would spot a lady going into my garden and taking a snippet. The scent of rosemary was lovely but the bush became too much and I got rid of it.
I saw rosemarys bush one time,messy
Will someone tell me why no one grows Artemisia abrotanum (southernwood, lad’s love, southern wormwood) as it is as powerful smelling as any herb and no one grows it in their herb garden as it repels certain insects but is not for eating but a powerful smelling plant.
Borage is good for bees and a tea is made from the leaves that has herbal properties…
I have lovage as it smells nice and winter savory but never used them to cook with, some herbs can be nice just to have them due to what they smell like. With rosemary and hyssop which I grow as a flowering plant as well, these herbs can shoot up your blood pressure, so care needed there?
have your say