The good weather here was matched by soaring temperatures in the UK, where a record high of 36.30C was registered in south London, and right across Europe.

Meanwhile in California, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called a state of emergency outside Los Angeles to combat the wildfires engulfing the area as the west coast experienced its hottest July on record.

Inevitably, this bout of sizzling weather has raised concerns that we are witnessing the further effects of global warming and instead of decamping to the seaside, perhaps it is time to tackle the issue.

But Ireland gets a heatwave every decade or so. Isn't that what happened this week?

It is true the last time temperatures went through the roof was in 1995. There were also warm summers in the early 80s and a real scorcher in 1976 but there is no doubt that temperatures have been rising in recent years.

As a general rule, we get temperatures in excess of 250C for only about two or three days each year while anything more than 300C happens every 10 years. However, since the mid-1990s, there have been a number of summers where the high 200C were reached frequently including last year and in 2003.

This is notable because these dates tie in with the findings of bodies such as the UN, the Inter-Governmental Panel of Climate Change and even NASA who have all released statistics to show that temperatures have been rising across the globe since the late 1990s and are set to continue to increase by between 1.50C and 60C until the end of the century.

Met Eireann recently echoed these predictions by estimating that over the next 50 years average temperatures will rise here by 20C.

So it is going to get hotter. So what?

Because of their rarity value, when hot sunny days arrive here, we try to ignore any clouds looming on the horizon.

But avoiding the problem of global warming is perilous. For a start, it can be bad for your health . . . 35,000 mainly elderly people died across Europe in the shock heatwave of 2003.

Others vulnerable to heatwaves are children and people with pre-existing illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and chronic breathing problems. Also you are more at risk if you live in a city because urban spaces tend to absorb and retain heat which causes temperatures to rise further than in rural areas.

In the wake of the 2003 heatwave, the EU issued a report that found more not less of such extreme events are likely. Drought, heavy rain and heatwaves will all feature regularly on weather bulletins of the future.

Of course, rising temperatures don't simply kill people, they also melt glaciers, cause serious flooding, destroy harvests and pose a major threat to animal habitats.

The EU predicts that without effective action over several decades, global warming will see ice sheets disappearing in the north and the spread of deserts in the south. The continent's population could effectively become concentrated in the centre.

But you don't have to resort to apocalyptic scenarios to be concerned about global warming. Already, the Arctic ice caps are melting 10 times faster than previously thought and, last week, a massive section of the Eiger Mountain in Switzerland collapsed because the glaciers holding it together have retreated. No need to worry then.

But if there is a crisis, why aren't we making a drama of it?

Global warming is attributed to an increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels that power electricity stations, cars and aeroplanes. Scientists and environmental groups agree the only way to stop the worst effects of this is to reduce our reliance on oil, gas and coal.

The problem is that the biggest producer of these emissions, the US, claims that it is too early to say whether the climate is being irrevocably changed by human behaviour and is refusing to take on the cost of changing to more sustainable energy sources. Because of this, it won't sign up to the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty designed to reduce carbon emissions.

This mightn't be so bad if other countries were adhering to the treaty but many, including Ireland, are not meeting the carbon-cutting targets they signed up to.

There is also the small matter of China and India's exemption from the agreement because of their status as developing economies. These powerhouses are pumping out ton after ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere free from any monitoring or regulation.

Can individuals do anything to stem the rise in temperatures, or is it a case of don't worry, be happy with the heat?

You could take the George Bush stance and say it is too early to be certain about global warming. The hot summers of the last few years could be just a blip and for all the scare stories about melting ice caps the weather hasn't really changed that much recently.

At this stage global warming is more a set of predictions than anything else. Anyway it's a beautiful day, so what's there to worry about? This could be described as the short-term view or not making hay while the sun shines.

Alternatively, you could learn lessons from the campaign against CFCs that were blamed for causing a hole in the ozone layer. People responded to calls by environmentalists to boycott the use of aerosol deodorants and hairspray and governments have since phased out the use of CFCs in refrigerators. The danger posed by the chemical has passed.

With reports that 10 people have already died in the past week in France due to the heat, it is surely the moment for another concerted public campaign, this time against global warming.