Ep 29 - Shipping

Ireland has a Climate Action Plan that the government maintains will succeed in reducing our Greenhouse Gases in line with what we are legally obliged to do. Nobody else agrees. This programme measures the gap between what we have to do and what we are actually getting done.

90% of everything imported into Ireland arrives by ship. That's a thousand ships a month docking in Irish ports. If shipping and aviation continue business as usual, by 2050 they will do more global warming combined than agriculture.

As the world gets warmer how may climate refugees will arrive in Ireland?

The evidence for and against the Atlantic's overturning current reaching a tipping point this century.

Has the key shaper of Ireland's weather been knocked off course by climate change?

Does the programme for government rely on bad science for reducing methane emissions from farming?

Because temperatures went above 1.5 degrees of additional warming, 2023 and 2024 provided a look into our climate future. What do extreme weather events in the last year tells us about what the planet will look like in ten year’s time?

Will climate action work? If we spend trillions on a Green Transition what are the chances we will get Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050? Philip speaks to one of the few people with right mix of skills to make an informed assessment of this generation’s chances of saving humankind.

Is Geo-engineering the planet to reduce warming our best hope or playing with fire? Incorrect speculation that Dubai caused massive flooding in April by seeding clouds put geo-engineering in a critical spotlight. Philip visits the “Centre For Climate Repair” a leading player in this much criticised field.

A new project to take the sting out of flooding. With so much extra rain in our future we are going to have to start adapting now. But most of these projects to keep our feet dry will have as many opponents as supporters. Philip examines one with huge potential and invites a powerful critic to see if he can be persuaded.