Global climate change has made Ireland "warmer and wetter", according to a new report published this morning (Thursday, August 12).

Dubbed "The Status of Ireland's Climate", the report was published by the Environmental Protection Agency, Met Éireann and the Marine Institute.

This is the second comprehensive analysis of “essential” climate data collected in Ireland.

According to the three groups, the report confirms and updates findings from the 2012 report and details how global changes are being reflected in our atmosphere, oceans and our landscape.

The report was prepared by MaREI, University College Cork and funded by The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Met Éireann (MÉ) and the Marine Institute (MI).

Atmosphere

Oceans

Land

The report also identified that progress has been made in several areas of Ireland’s observation infrastructure, resourcing, analyses and co-ordination, since the 2012 climate status report.

However, it says that further action is needed to ensure the national climate observation system is fit for purpose for the coming decades.

Welcoming the publication of the report Laura Burke, EPA director general, said:

“Climate observations provide the basis for our understanding of the realities of climate change here in Ireland, in Europe, and globally.

"As a Party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Paris Agreement, Ireland has committed to carry out the range of climate observations outlined in this report.

"These data enable bodies such as the IPCC to carry out their analysis of global changes. Importantly, they are needed to inform effective responses to the changes that are happening here in Ireland.

The scientific data was monitored and collated by Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Ireland and "represents Ireland’s long- standing contribution" to gather the vital monitoring data needed internationally.

Highlighting the importance of the Status of Ireland’s Climate report Eoin Moran, director of Met Éireann, said:

“As citizens in Ireland and around the world are now seeing the impacts of climate change, through evermore extreme weather events, fires and flooding etc; high-quality observations of the climate are crucial to help inform society’s response to the climate emergency.

"Scientific long-term monitoring of the climate underpins climate research and the development of climate services which support policy making and decision making in the face of the urgency of the climate crisis," Moran added.