RTE viewers have left feeling "scared" by a documentary on climate change.
Will Ireland survive 2050? aired on Monday night and explored the damage being wrought on Ireland by the warming planet’s increasingly extreme weather patterns.
Experts say Irish summer temperatures could climb by three degrees while the sea level could rise by nearly 20 inches in another 30 years.
The programme, headed by veteran meteorologist Ger Fleming and environmental scientist, Dr Cara Augustenborg, presents a series of worst-case weather scenarios from climate change.
One scientist noted that Ireland could end up with the climate of Iceland if the Gulf Steam completely shuts down.
The documentary also deals with how flooding could affect of places like Cork city which are under the dual threat of rising sea levels and increased frequency of extreme events.
Newly constructed 3D representations showed what parts of our country will look like in the year 2050.
Former RTE weather forecaster Gerard Fleming said he is genuinely worried about what Irish weather forecasts will be like in the future.
“I expect them to feature more floods, more drought and more prolonged cold snaps," he noted.
Fleming, who is currently working with the World Meteorological Organisation and the World Bank, visits Greenland to see with his own eyes how record-breaking rates of melting ice-caps are causing the global sea level to rise.
“It’s just melting away here," he said as he watched the heavily dripping glacier.
“We’re losing more ice through melting than we are gaining with snowfall. It’s scary. It’s nature in action.”
There were mixed reactions from viewers on social media, with many saying they were concerned but others accusing the broadcaster of "scaremongering".
One viewer wrote: "Will Ireland survive 2050' would frighten the life out of you. But everyone needs to see it. Dublin and Galway city underwater, fields dried up without a blade of grass left. Time to wake up."
Another added: "I'd like to thank @rte for my anxiety about the future and my son's future after watching Will Ireland survive 2050?"
A third said: "People going on about 'Will Ireland Survive 2050' programme being a tactic of scaremongering - the #ClimateCrisis is scary.
"People need to wake up to what's happening. Nobody is brainwashing you, they just need to get you to realise what's happening."
On the other side of the debate, a viewer tweeted: "Will Ireland Survive 2050? Talk about whipping up the fear factor!! @rte really should concentrate on how many #homeless will we have living on the streets in 2050!"
Another added: "Scaremongering and creating mass hysteria, in preparation for more carbon taxes, this negativity is bad for society."
