Cuban Daily News
Cuba is not insulated from the effects of climate change, which affects
crops, food production and eats away part of its land mass every year.
Between
1961 and 2000, Cuba has recorded an average reduction in rainfall of
between the 10 and 20 percent, while it is estimated than 70 percent of
its soil non-productive.
These are just some of the obvious
examples of how climate change is more than just an abstract concept
and has a real impact at the local level.
This has been
demonstrated in the documentary “Climate Change in Cuba,” a
collaborative effort by Mundo Latino Production House, the Weather
Forecast Institute and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.
The
shooting of the documentary included more than 200 hours of underwater
filming, around 30 aerial shots and concrete examples of the receding
coast along the south of the island. Interviews with personalities such
as the “diva of free diving,” Deborah Andollo, are also included to
sensitize people to climate change, explained director Omelio Borroto
to Juventud Rebelde newspaper.
The 52 minutes of the documentary shows some of the effects on global
warming
on beaches, rivers and forest in Cuba, as well as the impact on
important ecosystems such as the Zapata Swamp, and problems caused to
residents by drought and hurricanes.
A curious element shown on
the documentary is the whitening and death of the coral barrier, which
has recovered in the last few years in some places – demonstrating that
nature still has the possibility of recovering, regardless the serious
harm it has suffered.
Climate Change in Cuba is the result of
consistent work by Mundo Latino on environmental topics, which has
provided them with a huge image archive, some of their shots never
before seen. Borroto said that the company is scheduled to make another
documentary about the Cuban strategy of mitigation and adaptation to
this world problem.
This week experts from all over the world
discussed how to deal with this phenomenon at a global level. Likewise,
the United Nations Development Programme’s 2007 Report on Human
Development recently acknowledged that warming of the climate
system is unequivocal; the report noted that this is obvious today from
the observations of the increases in median global temperatures of the
oceans and air, the generalized fusion of ice and snow, and the rising
sea level.
Experts urged governments such as the United States to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases.
Cuba
assumed its responsibilities on climate change early when it signed the
United Nations framework convention at the Rio de Janeiro Summit in
1992, and then ratified it in January 1994. Cuba also signed the Kyoto
Protocol in 1999 and ratified it in April 2002.
The report on
Human Development also warns of the movement in the near future of
around 332 million people from low-lying and coastal zones as a result
of floods and tropical storms.
It also urges developed countries
to reduce their gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050 and by 30
percent by 2020; both targets are in comparison to 1990 emission levels.
(Juventud Rebelde)
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