Met Éireann providing information to ensure Ireland is 'climate prepared'

Vivienne Clarke

Keith Lambkin of Met Éireann’s Climate Division has said that the data supplied by weather stations around the country will help provide “climate services” to ensure the country is “climate prepared”.

Speaking from the Cop26 conference in Glasgow on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Mr Lambkin explained that climate data assists with predictive models which can help in making decisions such as what types of trees to plant, drainage and how high walls should be built and the impact all these decisions will have 50 years in the future.

Met Éireann’s weather station at the Valentia Island observatory has been collecting data since 1860 and is one of a number of “centennial” weather stations identified by the UN, he added. Such data identifies climate signals and will be very important into the future.

Data from Valentia over the past 100 to 120 years has revealed that the average temperature in Ireland has increased by one degree which is “roughly in line” with the global average, said Mr Lambkin.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organisation is now developing weather stations like Valentia in developing countries so that climate change can be monitored closely, and climate services can be developed.

Mr Lambin said that the message that will come from Cop26 is that “sums need to add up” and that the promises made under the Paris Agreement are fully funded under a legal framework which will ensure that targets are met.