Long day’s journey into 1.5º
Let’s get this out of the way first. On climate change, things are worse, a lot worse, than most people have been led to...
Thirty years closer to the End of Nature
Below, my review of ‘Falter’, the new book by veteran environmental writer, Bill McKibben, as it appeared in the Irish Times in May. UNLESS...
Window on ecological annihilation closing fast
Below, my article that appeared in the Irish Times at the beginning of this month, inspired by the publication in October of the WWF’s...
Out of the frying pan? A tumultuous decade draws to a close
The hottest month ever recorded on Earth occurred in July 2019, during what has been yet another year of record-shattering extremes. France was hit...
How flawed logic puts the world in danger
Below, my review of ‘The Irrational Ape’ by David Robert Grimes, which was published in the Irish Times on September 22nd last. In an...
Running Amoc – uncertain future for Atlantic current
Below, my first article to appear in Passive House Plus magazine: IF YOU LOOK at Ireland on an atlas, one thing that is striking...
A very British coup: rise and fall of the climate contrarians
In recent months, I’ve been involved as one of a number of authors in an international project for a forthcoming academic publication looking at the...
A tale told by an idiot, full of sound & fury, signifying nothing
In many respects, 2018 has been another thoroughly dispiriting year on the climate and environment beat. The publication in October of the IPCC’s SR1.5...
Rout of global biodiversity comes with a heavy price tag
Below, my article as it appeared in the summer edition of ‘Irish Wildlife’, the magazine of the Irish Wildlife Trust, an organisation well worth...
Drafting a roadmap for a climate-altered world
I was delighted back in May to receive an email from Andy Revkin letting me know he was coming to Ireland in early June...
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Reasons for Japan to dump nuclear power more obvious now than ever.
It has been nearly six years since the triple-meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Two things seem symbolic of this time: the...
Walking the walk: Canada’s prime minister secures a deal for a national carbon price
TALK is cheap. Since 1997 Canada has signed five global climate deals pledging to lower its greenhouse-gas emissions. However, it has never implemented a...
Canada's climate change policies keep its Paris commitments out of reach.
Canada probably will fail to meet its international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under even the best-case scenario, according to a new report...
Vacancy: Science writer at Carbon Brief
An exciting opportunity to become Carbon Brief’s new science writer, helping us to analyse and report climate change and society’s response to it.
Do you...
Canary in the kelp forest: Sea creature dissolves in today’s warming, acidic waters
The one-two punch of warming waters and ocean acidification is predisposing some marine animals to dissolving quickly under conditions already occurring off the Northern...