Summer heat waves cause for concern say WWF

Summer heat waves in Northern Ireland could become more frequent and more severe as temperatures rise across Europe over the past three decades, the WWF has claimed.

A report - 'Europe feels the heat - the power sector and extreme weather' - revealed that temperatures in Dublin have risen by 0.7°C and that temperatures in London have risen by 2°C since the 1970’s, one of the most significant in Europe.

Similar research on data collected at Aldergrove, from 1970 to 2004, shows that Northern Ireland has seen a warming trend very similar to that of Dublin. This suggests that although temperature changes here are not as high as Luxembourg, Madrid, Athens and London, it still appears to be getting hotter.

The build up of greenhouse gases, in particular CO2, in the atmosphere are partly to blame, the WWF said. Predictions suggest that extreme weather events such as the 2003 heatwave will be twice as likely to occur and have more devastating effects. The summer of 2003 is believed to be the hottest in Europe for the past 500 years and the severe weather conditions claimed around 40,000 lives.

Malachy Campbell, Policy Officer at WWF Northern Ireland, said: "We often think of extreme weather as freaks of nature but this latest report shows that this is no longer the case - but that there are real trends emerging.

“Here in Northern Ireland we are likely to see not only hotter weather in the future but also wetter weather so not only do we face the possibility of heat waves but also floods and sea level rise due to artic ice melting.”

WWF's 'Stop Climate Chaos!' campaign recently called on governments and the power sector to limit CO2 emissions to help ensure the average rise in global temperature stays well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

They say it is a crucial tipping point for the environment and would have devastating impacts for people and wildlife.

(MB/SP)