More Trees Now at Síolta Chroí, Carrickmacross on the 29th and 30th of November
On the 29th and 30th of November the Ecosystem Restoration Community, Síolta Chroí invites all to an introductory event of More Trees Now: an initiative to plant more indigenous trees through circular forestry.
Continue readingExtreme weather events in many parts of the world now feature in the news more frequently than ever. This summer there have been heatwaves on land – and in theoceans – as well as wildfires, hurricanes, and severe droughts and floods. The climate change which has been predicted by scientists is now becoming ever more evident. Globally we’ve had the hottest July ever and according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres it signals that an “era of global boiling has arrived”.
Continue readingTransition Monaghan host informal workshop
A Cuppa for Climate: In June 2023 Transition Monaghan hosted an informal workshop in St Joseph’s Parish Centre, Monaghan Town, where the public were invited to come and chat about Climate and Environmental issues that were on their mind. The event was under the umbrella of Friends of the Earth, Ireland who helped organise similar events throughout Ireland. As well as sharing examples of local best practices and positive steps participants are taking in their own lives to reduce environmental impacts, a number of broader themes came up during discussions.
Continue readingI recently visited Seán Ó Conláin’s forest to learn about his efforts to work with nature while still making the forest economically viable.
Edergole Forest
Critics often complain that single species plantation forestry, especially conifers, are staid and lifeless areas. However this forest, located in the rolling hills of County Leitrim is wonderful. A towering ancient oak greets you on your approach up the driveway to the house. And behind the house, when you walk through Edergole forest you get a wonderful feeling of being immersed deep in nature. A wide range of plants grow under the canopy of high trees and the birds sing noisily in the background. The original hedgerows and ditches that once separated the original fields are still in situ and are rich with a mosaic of common countryside flora. So how did it get like this?
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL AND WHY MUST WE STOP CUTTING IT?
The recent move by Eamon Ryan to ban the harvesting of peat in Ireland caused an uproar. Peat has been used for heating and cooking in Ireland for centuries. Turbary rights, which are part of Ireland’s intangible cultural heritage, have meant that people living in homesteads in rural areas have inherited a right to cut and remove turf from specific plots of peatland linked to these dwelling houses. In more recent times, peat has been used commercially in horticulture and former peatlands have been used for afforestation and in agriculture. But, when we look at peat extraction, and the damage it is doing to what is left of our wetlands, against the backdrop of climate change, biodiversity loss and carbon sequestration, it is inescapably evident that extraction practices cannot continue. The growing impact of smoky fuels on human health also cannot be ignored.
THE LIBRARY OF OUR LIVING PLANET IS BURNING DOWN
In this article, John Gibbons discusses the biodiversity crisis that is currently unfolding as species after species is lost to extinction due to global warming. Based in Dublin, John has been writing and speaking about environmental and climate-related issues for the last decade and a half. He regularly contributes to Today FM, the Guardian, the Business Post, is the person behind the http://www.climatechange.ie website and maintains a blog at http://www.thinkorswim.ie.
SHOULD IT BE CLASSIFIED AS “GREEN” ENERGY?
Despite internal disagreement, the EU recently announced that it is proposing to classify energy from nuclear power as green. If a majority of member states back it, it will become EU law in 2023. Dermot McNally takes a look at the arguments involved and the effect this might might have on Ireland.
CURRENTLY OPEN FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION – HAVE YOUR SAY!
Ireland’s third River Basin Management Plan is currently under development and is open for public consultation. River Basin Management Plans are pivotal tools for the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. The Water Framework Directive is European legislation that requires our rivers, lakes, groundwater and coastal water to achieve a healthy state, or what’s known as ‘good ecological status’. Ireland’s first RBMP was published in 2009, the second was published in 2018, and the third RBMP due to cover the period 2022-2027 is in the process of being finalised. But what does all of this mean?
TO WHAT EXTENT IS IT FUELING CLIMATE BREAKDOWN?
It’s well understood that the ever increasing demand for goods and services is fueling climate breakdown. Yet despite this advertisers go to extreme expense to convince us to spend more and more. That’s why activists and campaigners of all kinds are heaping pressure on the advertising industry (and the biggest polluters) to clean up their act. Dermot McNally investigates.
WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT AND WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THEM?
Greenland (near the North Pole) and Antarctica (South Pole) are home to most of the world’s glacial ice, including its only two ice sheets. Glaciers and ice sheets have been appearing in the news quite frequently in the past few years as they are increasingly unstable due to global warming. Just before Christmas it was reported that the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic, which is the widest glacier in the world and is sometimes referred to as the ‘Doomsday Glacier’, could collapse in as little as five years. Candice Moen has a closer look at our earth’s ice.
THE HISTORY OF ICE ON EARTH
There have been many ice ages on earth, most of them long before humans made their first appearance. These ice ages would have ranged from “comparatively mild” to “so severe that the entire Earth froze over for tens or even hundreds of millions of years”. Looking back over the history of these ice ages, the planet seems to have three main settings: ‘greenhouse’, when tropical temperatures extend to the poles and there are no ice sheets at all; ‘icehouse’, when there is some permanent ice, although its extent varies greatly; and ‘snowball’, in which the planet’s entire surface is frozen over. During the different greenhouse, icehouse and snowball there was ice present in various different locations across the earth’s surface.
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Transition Monaghan 