Science Flash For You - Ireland

Emissions in the power industry sector grew by 13% in 2021. However, the overall trend in Ireland for the last 15 years is downwards, with fossil emissions declining by 26% since 2005.

Global fossil CO₂ emissions increased by 5.3% in 2021 compared to 2020, almost reaching pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to the report. In the EU, total fossil CO₂ emissions increased by 6.5% in 2021. However, this increase is just about half of the reduction that took place between 2019 and 2020 (-10.8%). Consequently, the EU27 emissions fell by 5% between 2021 and 2019, continuing a downward trend.

Looking further back, the EU has achieved the largest relative decrease in greenhouse gas emissions among the top emitters. EU27 fossil CO₂ emissions in 2021 were 27.3% lower than in 1990 and its share of global emissions also decreased from 16.8% in 1990 to 7.3% in 2021.

The JRC’s Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) includes data from 1970 until 2021. It complements national inventories and reporting prepared by Parties to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and can provide information on collective emissions trends for all countries as required for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

2021 was the second worst wildfire season in the European Union since 2000 when the EFFIS records began. Damages in 2021 were only surpassed by those in 2017, when over 1 million hectares burned in the EU. Of the total burnt area in 2021 of half a million hectares, 20% occurred on ‘Natura 2000’ protected sites. The first data available for 2022 are looking even worse.

The JRC provides a pivotal contribution to wildfire disaster risk reduction in Europe and globally through the development and operation of EFFIS. In August, a Pan-European wildfire risk assessment was published with the aim to conciliate previous approaches used by different countries, making a comparable assessment across countries and regions in Europe possible. This harmonised method will support the EU and its Member States in protecting lives and the natural environment by enhancing planning and coordination of prevention, preparedness and cross-border firefighting actions.

Forecasts for 2022 suggest an overall lower economic performance compared to 2021 driven by decreases in both landings weight, but an increase in value, according to the 2022 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet recently released by the JRC.

EU fisheries are expected to struggle to maintain profits due to the sharp increase in energy costs and inflation in 2022, and the EU fishing fleet may have ended 2022 in a loss-making position. The results in this report also show that the objectives of sustainable fishing and energy transition are mutually reinforcing and necessary to ensure the long-term socio-economic viability of the EU fishing sector. In addition to projections for 2022, the report also looks back at 2020 when the sector was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also mentions the effects of the increase of fuel prices due to the military aggression of Russia in Ukraine on operational costs.

For men, it is estimated there will be 1.9 million new cancer cases in 2040, compared to 1.5 million for women.

There are also marked differences in the impact which population ageing will have on different European countries, which is tied to the differences in the projected speed of demographic change between countries. This ranges from an estimated increase in new cancer cases of 2% in Bulgaria, up to 65% in Ireland, as reported in the European Cancer Information System managed by the JRC.

ECIS provides the latest information on indicators that quantify cancer burden across Europe. It permits the exploration of geographical patterns and temporal trends of incidence, mortality and survival data across Europe for the major cancer entities.

The purpose of the web application is to support research as well as public health decision-making in the field of cancer and to serve as a point of reference and information for European citizens.

Depopulation and ageing are two intertwined factors affecting the future of Europe and particularly its rural areas where 30% of the total EU population live. But not all places in the EU are ageing equally. Depopulation is a phenomenon that very much depends on the geographical context.

The Atlas of Demography is published by the Commission Knowledge Centre for Migration and Demography. It is an online reference tool guiding policy makers, practitioners and the general public through the complexities of demographic change. Freely accessible online, the Atlas provides a quick access to a comprehensive body of demographic data and knowledge presented at the finest level of geographical detail - down to the level of a single municipality.

The aim is to improve access to statistics and policy-relevant indicators for tourism, supporting destinations and public authorities in tracking their progress in the green and digital transition.

The EU Tourism Dashboard has been developed by the JRC and the Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, following a request by EU countries in 2021 to design a tool for the tourism ecosystem.