Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor Stott for a fascinating presentation. Sometimes we hear in policy discussions on this issue the argument - maybe this is not the professor's science area because he is connected with the IPCC reports - that we might not have to concentrate on methane gas emissions. Due to their short lifecycle, they are not as significant as the CO2 lifecycle, which is much longer. Does the professor have a sense of that?

Would it be an appropriate response to discount methane somewhat or are other factors, such as the melting of tundra ice resulting in the release of methane, moving us beyond natural tipping points and bringing methane back into the frame? Perhaps that is outside Professor Stott's area of expertise but if he had a view on it, I would appreciate it.

My understanding is that in recent years, carbon-equivalent global emissions have started to stabilise somewhat - for three or four years they were relatively stable - but that the concentrations in the atmosphere of CO2 equivalent gases have increased significantly from approximately 2.5 parts per million to almost 3 parts per million. Does that tell Professor Stott anything? Is there anything significant we should read into this or is it just a result of natural variability?

I have seen the work of Jennifer Francis from Rutgers University on explaining the phenomenon by which the jet stream is altering and becoming slightly stuck in a more undulating pattern. She argues this is a result of some of the changes occurring in the ice caps. In those circumstances, if Ireland were to end up on a down point of a jet stream groove, as it were, we could end up with a colder climate.

Professor Stott will present some of his assessments on the more local implications of climate change to the UK Government in the next six months or so. Can he give us a sneak preview of any of that? He mentioned wetter winters and drier summers. We have had similar research from Maynooth University, which has done some very good work on this issue, but the granularity is difficult. Does Professor Stott have a general sense of what the implications might be from looking at this incredibly complex system with all the moving parts? Ireland is not a great distance from the UK. Will Professor Stott share the latest available information on the specific conditions we might expect here in 20, 30, 40 or 50 years?