Is climate change affecting our neighbourhoods?

32 Replies

In the past few years our own neighbourhood has experienced floods due to rivers busting their banks;

River in flood

River in flood

We’ve had snow in March;

Daffodils in snow

Daffodils in snow

And exceptionally mild winter’s leading to early springs.

Common frog

Common frog

You may say all these things are just vagaries of our Irish weather, but there is no doubt that these extremes in weather events are becoming more common. For now though we are still blessed with a beautiful green landscape that Ireland is famed for. But how will species and landscapes cope if we find ourselves experiencing even more of these strange climatic events.

 

Post inspired by Lens artist photo challenge #36 – Around the neighbourhood

 

 

 

 

32 thoughts on “Is climate change affecting our neighbourhoods?”

  2. Tina Schell

    Yes I agree MM. We’ve been here 20 years and our first hurricane was 3 years ago. We’ve had one every year since. It’s a very frightening trend. Excellent message for the neighborhood challenge.

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  5. dust4y

    Yes, quite a concern for the Queen bees as well. Keep wondering what’s happened to the early risers – poor things. We need more vision and action from the powers that be to augment what brilliant things people like you do, Karina.

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. pattimoed

    Hi, MM. Great questions. Sometimes even small changes have an impact–like the latest push to eliminate plastic straws and buy re-usable water bottles. I’ve had conversations with people who don’t believe in global warming. How do we convince them?

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    1. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

      I read an interesting article about how we can use a less negative message when we are talking about climate change. So talking more positively about the actions we can take to make things better, rather than trying to persuade people with the doom and gloom messages which just make people turn off.

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  7. Meanderer

    Beautiful images.

    The statistic that astounds me is the one which shows that 20 of the last 22 years are the warmest on record.

    Generally, it seems as if – despite cold snowy spells some years – Winters are milder. Summers are certainly hotter wherever I’ve lived over the last 20 years or so. It used to be that hot dry sunny Summers were something extraordinary – now they are commonplace. Since moving to Wales (which, like Ireland, is renowned for its rain!) it has on the whole been pretty dry. The shock of seeing the Welsh hills brown and parched last Summer will stay with me.
    At the moment, I’m treasuring each drop of rain in readiness for another Summer like last …….. of course it may be the turn of floods this year; it’s all so seemingly unpredictable.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

      Last year we were in Wales in early July (we visit each summer to see in-laws) and I had never seen things so brown. Here in the west of Ireland things went brown too but not to that extent. It will be interesting to see what we get this year! I think the only thing we can be sure about is unpredictability.

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  10. aj vosse

    Mmmm… we all have our views. Mine is just that the climate has been changing since the so-called Big Bang.
    I’m afraid, the scaremongers who are gaining financially by all their doomsday predictions are only cherry-picking the data that suit them! (The hockey-stick lark, to name but one…)
    I wonder… if we take the statistics over the last few hundred years (instead of only choosing to trot out the last twenty years data?) … how much has really changed? Weather change is cyclical… the patterns will always vary. I wonder when will water vapour become the new greenhouse gas to be vilified…
    OK… enough, your pics are great… I love the daffs in the snow… and yes, they were early this year… so, let’s just be grateful for their colour! Next year they may be very late… who knows?
    The crux of the matter – we should seeks answers and challenge opinion, not blithely follow every whim chucked at us.
    Just by the way… we should save our energies (and focus) for the fight against pollution… of all kinds, beginning with farming and the massively destructive effects of mono-culture and chemical interference!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

      I think debate on climate change is vital AJ to build a better understanding and i agree that climate is always charging; my concerned is the current rate of change. Things are happening so quickly species cannot adapt fast enough. I agree on your final parargraph, pollution, intensive agricultural are all huge problems too. You may be interested in this article from The Guardian (though you may not agree with it all) – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/18/ending-climate-change-end-capitalism

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. aj vosse

        Thanks for your response. I will read the article but that newspaper is a leftest rag that only has one agenda in mind… and that’s promoting socialism and communism! Two utterly contemptible dogmas! Anything that has “end capitalism” in it’s link smacks of propaganda!
        Sorry, I can’t change my opinion… but yes, I love the debate and positive interaction! Focus on the positives… 😉

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  11. Pingback: Wednesday’s Weather Words – Why We Wonder? | Ouch!! My back hurts!!

  12. Helen

    With reference to aj vosse’s comments, although I feel strongly that climate change is happening, tackling the issue by breaking it down into parts, such as acidification of the seas, car fumes, supporting local communities, might help more people take action, as it could appear more concrete in these doses.

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