Caribbean Net News
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS): The Human Development Report of 2007/08 has
revealed that climate change will have devastating effects on the
Caribbean that will, in the long run, lead to “low human development
traps.”
The report, done by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), and entitled ‘Fighting Climate Change: Human
solidarity in a divided world’, which was launched on December 11 in
Kingston, warns that the world should focus on the developmental impact
of climate change that could lead to unprecedented reversals in poverty
reduction, nutrition, health and education.
Resident
Representative of the UNDP, Minh Pham said that the report has shown
that the tourism industries of Jamaica and the Caribbean at large,
would be severely affected as climate change would also lead to serious
beach erosion and a disruption and possible extinction of marine life.
“Temperature
rising will affect also marine life leading to coral reef bleaching,
leading to extinction of marine animals and the combined consequence of
that will affect the tourism sector, loss of employment and revenues,
loss of livelihoods and employment within the fisheries sector as
well,” he outlined.
“In fact, the report pointed out that an
increase in 50 centimetres in sea level will wipe out roughly one third
of the Caribbean beaches,” he added.
Pham noted that a rise in
temperature would also lead to a rise in sea level, thereby creating
more intensive and frequent hurricanes. “As temperature rises the sea
level will rise as well, creating an increased energy of the ocean and
the water mass which will lead to tremendous tropical cyclones, more
intensive, more frequent hurricanes,” he explained.
He said
that since water is a fundamental source of life and livelihood, water
scarcity would impact food production, agriculture, nutrition and
Jamaica’s export earnings from agricultural products, coffee, coffee
beans and bananas. He is therefore urging Jamaicans to see climate
change as a “real, manmade” issue and also as a matter of national and
regional importance.
He pointed out that the health issues
that we are currently experiencing with dengue and malaria result from
the change in climate.
Highlighting the link between climate change and human development,
Pham
said that a rise in temperature would severely affect the climate of
the island. “As temperature rises and we see increased evaporation, we
will see more droughts, but also we will see severe flooding and we
will see a higher concentration of natural disasters in developing
countries because of the global pattern,” he reasoned.
Looking
towards the future, Pham issued a word of caution, arguing that future
generations would “judge us harshly, if we look at the evidence today
and do nothing about it.”
“In essence, we could condemn future
generations to severe poverty, to diminishing opportunities for
education, health, employment, for a meaningful and productive life,
and we are condemning future societies as well to an ecological
disaster,” he said.
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