Climate Action

Science Week Ireland 2019 will take place from the 10th to the 17th of November. The theme for this year’s Science Week is Climate Action. It will focus on understanding climate change, how science and technology can help us create a positive climate future and the impact we as individuals can have on climate change. The science behind climate change is one of the most studied fields of science, but it is only in recent years that it started to come into the public eye. With so many of the world’s leading experts agreeing with the evidence of climate change, there leaves absolutely no room for doubt.

The Earth’s temperatures have risen by 1 degree since the Industrial Revolution, attributed largely to the use of fossil fuels which causes a release of greenhouses gases into the Earth’s atmosphere. Due to this rise, global sea levels have risen by 6 inches over the last 100 years. This is caused by two reasons; firstly, when water warms up it expands, in the same way as a solid does when it heats up.

Secondly, global warming causes glaciers and ice sheets to melt, which adds more water to the world’s ocean, again causing sea level to rise. While this might not seem like a big increase on paper, it is having a detrimental effect on the planet and its wildlife and contributes to a massive change in the Earth’s weather systems. An informative video on what Ireland is doing to understand more about rising sea levels can be found here: 

While one person may feel unable to make a difference, a collective effort to offset carbon emissions will have a positive impact. The release of mac-group’s new Environmental Management System demonstrates a commitment to understanding our risks and lowering our impact on the environment. In 2020, a huge amount of work will go towards determining mac-group’s carbon footprint with reduction targets being implemented at a company, sector and project level.

Science Week Ireland 2019, supported by the Science Foundation Ireland, has a variety of ways for people to get involved and find out more about climate change and our planet through events, interviews, social media and much more. You can get involved by finding an event through their website or by following #BelieveInScience online. https://www.sfi.ie/engagement/science-week/

RTE are doing a week-long focus on climate change and have an impressive schedule of TV shows, radio and podcasts and online viewing via the player. https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/1024/1085433-rte-climate-change/