While the north west is not suffering the massive wildfires, biblical scale floods and never ending droughts that are devastating so many people across the globe, we are still experiencing significant changes in weather patterns.
That’s according to Dr Bláithín Gallagher, the Sligo/Leitrim constituency spokesperson and national coordinator of the Green Party.
She was speaking following the publication yesterday of an Environmental Protection Agency report on the impacts of climate change on Ireland.
Dr Gallagher said immediate impacts across the region include the kind of localised flash floods, experienced in the last few days, an example having been in Ballinglera in County Leitrim, where extensive damage was caused.
She says the changes in weather patterns has also clearly impacted on the farming community, with land being waterlogged for longer periods each year, and increasingly unpredictable fodder yields.
She lists the planting of native trees into grazing land among measures that should be introduced to help drain land while providing shelter for animals from extreme weather events.
