John Sweeney, Ireland’s leading expert on climate change to give a talk at NUI Galway entitled ‘Ireland and Climate Change: Adapting in an Environment of Uncertainty’

Professor John Sweeney, Ireland’s leading expert on climate change, will deliver a lunchtime talk at NUI Galway on Friday 28th March. The talk is entitled ‘Ireland and Climate Change: Adapting in an Environment of Uncertainty’.

Professor Sweeney will talk about climate extremes, the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), what it means for Ireland and where we are in the climate legislation stakes.

The talk will also develop current thought on climate change and in light of recent climatic events, will provide a measured view on the science behind predicting future climate scenarios. Specifically, Professor Sweeney will address our potential to adapt to future climatic shifts, dealing with specific measures that we can still apply, both nationally and regionally.

The organisers of the event, Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington from the Plant Ecology Research Unit and Dr Mike Gormally of the Applied Ecology Unit, School of Natural Sciences at NUI Galway, are delighted by the prospect of hosting such an informed figure on the study of climate change, in Galway.

Dr Sheehy Skeffington said, “It’s a real coup to have Professor Sweeney deliver a lecture at the university. He is a great speaker and an expert in the area of climate change, and he also features regularly on RTE television and radio discussing important topics related to climate change. I really encourage anyone interested to come along to this free event.”

Professor John Sweeney has been a lecturer at the Geography Department, NUI Maynooth since 1978 and has a PhD from the University of Glasgow. His research interests are Climate Change, Climatology and Air Pollution. His main area of interest is climatology and he has taught and researched at a number of universities in North America and Africa.

As well as publishing extensive scientific papers, Professor Sweeney has edited and co-authored 4 texts on climatology and climate change in Ireland. He has served a number of national academic societies as President, Secretary and Treasurer as well as being the Irish representative on a number of European academic bodies.

The talk will be held in the Lecture Theatre on the first floor of the MR Annexe (located to the right of the Martin Ryan building), NUI Galway on Friday 28th March at 1pm sharp.

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