Almost 50% of Irish people worry wildfires caused by climate change will harm local area

The vast majority of people across Ireland are concerned about the effects of climate change, with almost half of people worried that wildfires will harm their local area. 

That's according to newly released maps based on data from the Climate Change in the Irish Mind survey, which was undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with Yale University in 2021. 

An average of 85% of adults reported being worried about climate change, with 40% of people worried about wildfires and 95% believing climate change will harm future generations. 

Meath was identified as the county least likely to worry about wildfires harming the local area (35%), with 53% of people in Kerry concerned about this. 

According to data collected by University College Cork's (UCC) Environmental Research Institute, approximately 2,500 service callouts to wildfires are recorded each year. 

Only 19% of people reported they were likely to join a campaign for climate action, and just 33% knew that Ireland's agriculture sector is the largest source of pollution that causes climate change. 

People's beliefs, attitudes, policy preferences and behaviours on climate change were found to be consistent countrywide with no discernible different between urban or rural dwellers. 

While the evidence is largely consistent across the country, there are minor regional variations in the level of concern about climate risks. For example, slightly more people worried about water shortages in Dublin and the Mid-East region, and somewhat more people are worried about severe storms in the West, Mid-West, and South-West regions. 

Sligo residents were least likely to support a ban on peat, coal and oil for home heating (56% compared to the national average of 68%), with Dubliners most likely to support a ban (77%). 

People in Laois and Leitrim were least likely to believe climate change is caused by human activities (53%), with people in Galway and Dublin most likely to believe this (64%). 

Just 25% of people in Donegal knew that agriculture is Ireland's biggest pollution source responsible for climate change, with the highest percentage (38%) found in Cork. 

Speaking about the data Dr Conor Quinlan, EPA Senior Manager, Climate Services said, "These maps allow the public to examine at the national, regional and county level, in an easy to use format, information on climate change and desire for climate action and we encourage people to go online to see what their county thinks. 

"The findings of this, and the other Climate Change in the Irish Mind outputs, will be used to inform and support national communications on climate change. It will also be used by climate policy and decision makers, the research community, media, and the non-governmental sector." 

The data is based on a survey of 4,000 Irish people aged 18 and older conducted between May and July in 2021. 

The maps are available to view here.