UCC expert puts focus on climate change in new TV series

IN case you need reminding, climate change is real and is happening now. Big policies, implemented properly and urgently, are needed to change our world.

The good news is that some people are quietly doing amazing things to make our island a better place, and a new six-part series called Heated tells their stories.

It starts on RTÉ1 on Thursday, October 26, at 8pm and among the three presenters is Dr Michelle McKeown, a lecturer in UCC’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, who has a broad range of research interests in environmental science but specifically works on water quality and wetlands.

The other presenters are Rónán Ó Dálaigh, businessman, social entrepreneur and activist – who has a special focus on repurposing and recycling, and Hannah Quinn Mulligan, a journalist who runs an organic farm in Limerick,

Heated looks at the implications of climate change for the actual and lived lives of the people in this country – telling stories of hope, inspiration and practical endeavour as we push to cut emissions.

The first episode looks at the subject of peatland restoration and bringing back the bogs.

These are hugely important to the health of the planet as they store more than twice the amount of carbon stored in all the world’s forests. In Ireland, peatland makes up around 21% of our land mass,about 1.5 million hectares.

But for many years people have been drying out peatland by putting in drains to make it suitable for farming, building and cutting turf.

Michelle heads to Offaly, the county with the most peatland, where 30 farmers have become part of a new European pilot project spearheading the idea of carbon farming.

Hannah visits the Dublin Mountains, which, while beautiful, are prone to fly tipping on an almost industrial scale. Here, meitheals are organised where volunteers clear scenic areas of everything from domestic refuse to cookers, TVs and mattresses.

Hannah sees a company based in Longford who are the only firm in Europe completely repurposing mattresses.

Meanwhile, the world of soccer and soccer supporters is not one you would associate with sustainability.

However in Dublin city one club is changing that perception. Bohemian FC is a wholly fan-owned club and has the honour of being the first football club in the world to employ a full-time Climate Officer.

Can the club change its results … off the pitch?