"Who would ever have thought we would miss the house fly and the Vapona strips? But, they're gone."

My earliest memory of climate change was around 1990. It was coming up a little in the news and at work in the context of sustainability, another term that I knew little about at the time. While my own knowledge and awareness of the topic was very poor, it was not a new concept. As far back as the 1850's, a fellow Irishman was one of the scientists who first predicted the "greenhouse effect" from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. He was John Tyndall (1820-1893) from County Carlow and a prominent physicist. The Tyndall Institute in UCC is called after him. From the 1950's, scientists were becoming very concerned about the potential for severe climate change from humanity's burning of fossil fuels. In 1988, it was clear what was happening and how bad it could become if action were not taken.

What action has been taken? Since 1988, when we first knew beyond doubt of the consequences of climate change, we have emitted more carbon dioxide than in all of history before that. Personally, I was no more aware and no more concerned than most of society. My own experience is very much in parallel with that of most other people. From my own observations, it is very clear how much change we are experiencing as a result of climate change. I was just a bit slow getting to this realisation.

I live in West Cork and can see the changes here. I also travel extensively, ironically working on climate change mitigation with the UN and other international agencies. I have heard personal stories from speaking to local people in countries as diverse as South Africa, Malaysia, Russia, Spain and Mexico among many others. These stories are not much different to my own experience in West Cork. Different issues affect different regions in different ways. But the root cause and the commonality is undeniable.

In West Cork, in recent years we have seen unprecedented flooding and huge sums being spent to minimise the potential future damage. We also have first hand experience of more frequent and more severe storms. These storms are memorable, not only from the damage, but now from their names. Who will ever forget Ophelia and her younger brothers and sisters? We see frequent isolation of our islands, which cannot be accessed at times due to storms. They are also experiencing damage to their marine infrastructure including essential piers.