Abstract: A method and system for increasing safety of cardiac ablation procedures comprises a computer based system that monitors the esophageal temperature. During atrial fibrillation ablations, based on a pre-determined increase in esophageal temperature, the computer based system activates different levels of alarm(s), and/or initiates ablation energy interrupt based on pre-defined programmed values. In one embodiment, an esophageal cooling means is incorporated for cooling the esophagus during the procedure. If the temperature starts to increase a cooling means can be initiated and/or an ablation interrupt means is activated based on pre-determined events.