Green Limerick: We are almost at tipping point

WE HIT the 1.5C temperature threshold almost every second day last year.

A commitment was made by 195 countries at the Paris Agreement in 2015 to keep the world’s temperature from rising well below 2.0C by the end of the century and to try to keep the average surface level temperature of the earth from rising no more than 1.5C.

Now only eight years following the agreement, 2023 has shattered previous record temperatures, officially becoming the hottest year on record.

2023 managed to be the second hottest year for Europe on record but it happened to be Ireland’s hottest ever, with 11 out of 12 months of the year seeing warmer temperatures than usual.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are largely the cause of global warming. As these gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide, methane) rise, they stay in the earth's atmosphere, trapping the sun's heat, they act like the glass walls of a greenhouse.

In 2022 a total of 60.76 million tonnes of carbon dioxide was emitted from Ireland excluding emissions from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), down 1.9% compared to 2021 but still higher than the 1990 equivalent (54.4 million tonnes).

Agriculture was the leading contributor in 2022 with 23.337 million tonnes, down 2.1% from 2021. Transport was the second leading contributor with 11.634, up 6% from 2021.

Statista.com released a list of the top ten Irish GHG-emitting companies for 2022. The report was released in 2023.

Limerick and the Mid-West also have a role to play in the release of GHGs. Three of Ireland’s top ten individual GHG emitters for 2022 according to Statista.com were located in the Mid-West.

Moneypoint Powerstation was the second largest emitter in the country with 2.65 million tonnes of CO2 released into the atmosphere, behind Ryanair’s 9.35 million tonnes (these emissions would be spread around all of Ryanair's destinations in Europe and beyond). Limerick Alumina Refinery was third on the list with 1.09 million tonnes and Limerick Works Cement Works (Irish Cement) was the ninth largest emitter with 0.7 million tonnes.

That being said, scientists are predicting that we may not hit the 1.5C threshold just yet.

Yes, 2023 was a record-breaking year but this may be largely due to a natural heating and cooling system in the Pacific Ocean called El Niño and La Niña. Due to the vast area of the Pacific, the air temperature above the water has effects throughout the entire world. El Niño (the warm phase) kicked in last July and should fade come the end of spring or start of summer.

The image, however is still stark. Yes, we’re not living in a 1.5C or higher world yet but we all need to do more to meet our climate targets. Ireland has set out a target to half our GHGs by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. That 2030 figure seems a long way off considering we only lowered our emissions by 1.9% in 2022. It’s now 2024, we have six years left.