In a joint effort with Failte Ireland, farmers across the island are actively promoting tourism. Following a report by the Environmental Protection Agency, farmers see increased motoring and increased CO2 emissions as key to their future success.
Analyzing records that go back one hundred years, the government agency has noted that Ireland is getting warmer twice as fast as the rest of the globe. The end result? Fewer frost days, warmer winters, and a longer growing season. Scientists at NUI Maynooth have declared that there can be no doubt that human activity is behind the rising temperatures, and farmers would like to promote human activity as much as possible. Nothing could be more effective than getting millions of tourists to motor up and down the island, preferably in large SUVs to maximize emissions.
The report, prepared by Dr. John Sweeney and Dr. Laura McElwain, has offered hard-pressed farmers a glimmer of hope. With the promise of a longer growing season as a result of localized warming, current crops of cereals and grains will see an increase in production. In addition, new and different crops could be introduced, adding to the biodiversity of Irish farm products.
As for the tourism industry, the suggestion that summer days would be drier has marketing gurus scrambling to prepare advertising campaigns that prominently feature the warmer country as a sun holiday destination. Historians may find irony in such a change of fortune, noting that the climate of 1845-1855 had a profoundly detrimental effect on Irish farming, with a concomitant period of famine that is in marked contrast to the promised global warming bounty.
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