{"id":376008,"date":"2026-04-01T06:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376008\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:46:09","slug":"damage-from-climate-change-extensive-across-ireland-in-2025-advisory-council-says-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376008\/","title":{"rendered":"Damage from climate change extensive across Ireland in 2025, advisory council says \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storm \u00c9owyn<\/a>, which brought Ireland\u2019s highest winds and a record \u20ac300 million in insurance payouts, was only one of the ways climate change<\/a> damaged the country last year, according to a report from the Climate Change Advisory Council<\/a> (CCAC). <\/p>\n

Wildfire destruction was 40 per cent higher than in recent years, the spring-summer drought<\/a> was one of the most extensive with water restrictions in 15 counties, and the swing from drought to autumn deluge was one of the most dramatic. <\/p>\n

Storms and flooding<\/a> hit many parts, damaging homes, businesses, farms and forests, and exposing vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and essential services, including energy, water and telecommunications. <\/p>\n

Summer was the warmest on record, with night-time temperatures falling no lower than 19 degrees at one point, leading to 2025 being Ireland\u2019s second warmest year in recorded history. <\/p>\n

The conditions increased the incidence of algal blooms<\/a> and diseases such as avian flu<\/a>, bluetongue<\/a> and ash dieback<\/a>, and the spread of invasive species such as the Asian hornet<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change, driven by greenhouse gases, is having measurable impacts in Ireland,\u201d the CCAC, a Government-appointed independent body, said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is clear evidence in 2025 of rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events, with growing risks for communities, infrastructure, essential services and the economy.\u201d <\/p>\n

The report, published on Wednesday, says the Government is not adequately preparing for those risks. It notes a promised implementation plan \u2013 intended to ensure that responses agreed following Storm \u00c9owyn were followed through \u2013 has not yet been published. <\/p>\n

It also highlights the knock-on effect of extreme weather, with the severe rainfall of late 2025 leaving soil saturated and unable to absorb the intense downpours that accompanied Storm Chandra<\/a> in January, leaving multiple communities flooded. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Hazards mount for coastal areas as Earth\u2019s climate imbalance worsensOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Costs arising from extreme events last year are not yet fully known. Storm Bram<\/a>, which struck in December, cost at least \u20ac60 million, and caused unprecedented damage to the Great South Wall in Dublin Bay which shelters shipping channels into Dublin Port. <\/p>\n

But there were five named storms during the year, and the full economic losses take time to emerge. <\/p>\n

The CCAC report cites figures from late last year that show climate-change-related economic losses in 2024 totalled \u20ac4.1 billion. <\/p>\n

The same reliance on fossil fuels that is driving climate change has also left households and the economy vulnerable during the current oil crisis, the report said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Council has repeatedly stressed that there are viable alternatives which must be urgently pursued that would increase our economic resilience, reduce our dependency on the actions of others and simultaneously reduce our contributions to global warming,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n

Prof Peter Thorne, chair of the CCAC\u2019s adaptation committee, said climate change was no longer a future issue. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Bull Island is nature\u2019s gift to Dubliners. They haven\u2019t been gratefulOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIts damaging impacts are being felt across the environment, the economy and our communities,\u201d he said. \u201cIreland remains underprepared for these impacts. We must shift from reacting to extreme weather events<\/a> to anticipating and preparing for them.\u201d <\/p>\n

The council noted efforts to improve data gathering and forecasting capacity for weather, river changes, tidal conditions and soil moisture. However, it said more must be done to use that information and \u201cstrengthen early warning systems for the range of climate hazards that Ireland is exposed to\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Council is further concerned that there continues to be limited timely and systematic information on the economic, social, health and environmental impacts of extreme weather events in Ireland,\u201d the report said. Information is \u201cfragmented\u201d across various public and private bodies, agencies and companies. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe impacts of these extreme weather events on critical infrastructure and services, the built environment and productive assets such as agricultural land and forestry are also likely to become increasingly severe.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Storm \u00c9owyn, which brought Ireland\u2019s highest winds and a record \u20ac300 million in insurance payouts, was only one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2885,52922,25815,849,61,60,43,131111,5170,18335],"class_list":{"0":"post-376008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-climate-change-advisory-council","10":"tag-climate-sustainability","11":"tag-floods","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-storm-chandra","16":"tag-storm-eowyn","17":"tag-weather-events"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}