32degC ULSTER TO ROAST BY 2080 SAYS MET OFFICE.Byline: BY MAURICE FITZMAURICE SUMMER temperatures in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland: see Ireland, Northern. Northern Ireland Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland occupying the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland. Area: 5,461 sq mi (14,144 sq km). Population (2001): 1,685,267. could hit 32C by 2080 if we keep emitting greenhouse gases, the Met Office warned yesterday. Alex Hill from the Met's chief advisers' office added we are ill-prepared for temperature surges after years of cold weather. He told the Assembly's allparty group on climate change melting tarmac and disrupted agriculture are among the dangers because of global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. . Mr Hill added: "The infrastructure is built around coping with cold, wet and windy. "None of our technology, none of our buildings, none of the ways we live our life is built to cope with hot temperature." Winter averages could rise from around freezing to 4C at night time. Our current summer average is around 25C but could hit levels 32C, currently seen in southern European nations. Mr Hill said farmers needed frost at some times of the year for their work, he warned melting roads were a danger and said more energy was lost from power wires at higher temperatures. He referred to the 2003 heatwave heatwave n → ola de calor heatwave n → vague f de chaleur heatwave n → ondata di caldo in continental Europe in which many people died. Mr Hill added: "By 2040 or 2050 then that will be an average summer. By 2060-2080 that will actually be quite cool. Water levels could rise by half a metre in a century with a large proportion of London submerged." Sceptics about man's contribution to climate change, including Environment Minister Sammy Wilson Sammy Wilson (born April 4, 1953, Belfast) is a politician in Northern Ireland and both Member of Parliament and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Antrim.[1] , have argued the concern is linked to Whitehall's desire to raise more taxes. Mr Wilson has also pointed to conflicting views among the experts about the situation. Mr Hill said 90 per cent of eminent scientists had signed up to a report warning of the dangers and added some of the climate change was irreversible. The revelation of hot weather to come followed a row in the Assembly over Sammy Wilson's decision to stop adverts urging people to cut energy consumption and reduce their carbon emissions. But the SDLP's Environment spokesman Tommy Gallagher said the debate on the need to combat climate change had been reduced to "clowning about". He added: "The Minister for the Environment seems incapable of taking this issue seriously." CAPTION(S): HOT AIR Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall is the civic building of the Belfast City Council. Located in Donegall Square, it faces north and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre. bathers could swelter in heat |
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