Global warming happening faster here, scientists warn

Treacy Hogan writing in the Irish Indo' tells us that Ireland's climate is hotting up faster than the global average, a worrying report by the Irish Committee on Climate Change reveals.
We can look forward to a country with two climates - wetter stormy weather in the west and drought in the east, which will be the centre of Costal del Ireland.
And we need to start charging householders for providing fresh water because of predicted shortages, according to the report obtained by the Irish Independent. There are currently no domestic water charges in Ireland.
The report, due to be published later this week by the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), warns our climate will warm "slightly faster than the global average over the next few decades".
It was drawn up by Irish scientists who were also involved in last week's United Nations climate-change international report. They have just analysed how it will impact on Ireland and their research is being released by the RIA.
Our winter rainfall will increase, especially in the west of Ireland, says the Irish climate committee.
It said drought could hit parts of the south east, as rainfall rapidly decreases on the eastern seaboard.
It predicts:
* Our summer rainfall will continue its decline, especially along the east coast.
* Climate change in Ireland will mirror global temperature increases. But because of our latitude, the changes will be faster here.
"Our farmers, architects, engineers, planners and politicians will need to adjust to a changing climate regime," it says.
The committee also warns Ireland is one of the major emitters of greenhouse gases. "In our opinion, Ireland of the Celtic Tiger is unlikely to fare well in the next round of negotiations (involving curbs on emissions). It is urgent we produce meaningful and measurable policy responses."
Environmental groups continued to pile pressure on the Government over its failure to take action to reduce Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions. There was a 2pc rise in emissions in 2005 - the largest annual increase since 2001.
The Government is playing down the increase, saying it can still meet Ireland's Kyoto targets by buying carbon credits.
Friends of the Irish Environment, however, say the Government appears to be unwilling to tackle global warming problems.
Transport emissions have been allowed to rise so much that Ireland was identified as the worst country in this area in a recent report from the European Environmental Agency.