Stalker's eye was caught by the headline "Climate Change could turn green to brown"; what kind of alchemy was this article purporting?
It turns out that Ireland’s fabled forty shades of green are under threat and the island may end up with forty shades of dull brown if a new report from the Irish American Climate project is anything to go by.
The project, a collaboration between Irish and US scientists, outlines the ecological impact of climate change on Ireland and describes how ecological changes may affect the Irish landscape and contemporary life in Ireland.
It describes how the rich green scenery may fade to brown, the report suggests that the potato "may again wither" (just as another group of scientists report that the potato may hold the answer to all the current and growing staple food shortages in the world) and the islands classic soft trains may turn harsh.
Entitled Challenging Shades of Green, the report was published in Washington DC just before St Patrick's day, when the authors hoped that the attention of the 80million strong Irish Diaspora was focused on the island.
Among the gloomy forecasts unless climate change is tackled are more frequent droughts and warmer, damper temperatures which will lead to crop failure.
After a year that has seen the environment become the dominant driver of policies, climate change can no longer be seen as an issue - rather it has become the issue.
