EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Irish Agriculture, Climate and Weather Ireland’s weather and changing climate are key issues for the agricultural sector. There is a marked diversity of soil types in Ireland, with over 450 soil series identified, each of which has different physical, chemical and biological properties, with series- specific environmental and economic responses as a result. A temperate climate with significant quantities of rainfall makes Ireland naturally suited to grass-based agricultural production. Weather patterns are variable, shown by the extremes that Ireland has experienced in recent years, and can affect grass and crop growth and the ease with which heavy machinery can access land for field operations. Climate change is altering weather patterns, with different areas of the world affected in different ways. This has implications for food production and biodiversity globally, and Ireland is no exception to this. Projections of temperature and rainfall by Met Éireann and Climate Ireland 2,3 suggest that Ireland will see an increase of between 1°C and 1.6°C in mean annual temperatures by mid-century, with the largest increases in the east of the country. The number of frost days is projected to decrease by between 50 per cent and 62 per cent and the growing season length to increase by 35-40 days by mid-century. 2 https://www.met.ie/climate/climate-change 3 https://www.climateireland.ie/ Rainfall amounts are projected to decrease significantly, with the frequency of heavy rainfall events increasing by approximately 20 per cent, most notably in winter. This will lead to extended dry periods in the summer months. These changes to our weather system will have wide-ranging effects, from extended periods of drought-like conditions leading to potential water shortages to increased water run-off volumes during intense rainfall events. Ireland has experienced changes in weather patterns in recent years and further changes will potentially lead to increased environmental impacts and the emergence of plant and animal diseases that have not been prevalent in Ireland before. Research funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Met Éireann has noted that three high- impact events have occurred since 2000, which is equal to the total number of high-impact events observed in the previous century (Chapter 2). 328