Roseau, Dominica (July 19th, 2010): Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, heavier rainfall, extreme drought and stronger hurricanes are all the resultant effects of climate change and these all have implications for human health and the environment, yet not enough attention has been paid to this phenomenon, until now.
The Dominica Red Cross (DRC) brought together officials from the Environmental Coordinating Unit (ECU), the Meteorological Service, Ministry of Health, Office of Disaster Management, District Development Officers, staff and volunteers to talk about climate change, its effects and the role of humanitarian work in dissecting this complex environmental issue facing Dominica and the rest of the world.
Collin Guiste, Climate Change Officer of the ECU, spoke about the science behind climate change and its consequences. He said, “It’s not fiction anymore, its reality! The effects of climate change are being multiplied in our everyday lives. Stronger and more frequent hurricanes, variations in temperature and rainfall all impact our water resources. The higher temperatures have caused a higher rate of evaporation thus leading to more dry spells and the Caribbean experienced this first-hand earlier in the year. At the end of the day, agriculture is affected as well as livelihoods, the water table, energy production etc.” he explained.
During the last 100 years, the world’s surface air temperature increased an average of 0.6° Celsius (1.1° F) and while this may not sound like very much change, even one degree can affect the Earth. Mr. Guiste drew the analogy with one’s body temperature. “If your body temperature moves up by one degree, you may start to feel feverish and then by another degree, then you would have to visit the doctor. So it is with the Earth, a 1° rise in the temperature of the Earth is an alarming rate and we can’t turn a blind eye,” he added.
Sheryl Etienne-LeBlanc, Senior Met. Officer Ag, outlined the link between Climate change and extreme weather events. She explained that they’re all interconnected.
“Climate change on a whole refers to an increase in temperature which can affect the entire dynamics of the atmosphere. The warmer temperatures lead to higher sea surface temperatures which is one of the main ingredients for the development of storms. Over the past years we have seen changes in storm frequency and intensity. This means our islands are threatened by the hazards of extreme weather events. More storms result in damage of our coral reefs and infrastructure putting our coastal communities at risk. More intense rainfall events lead to flooding, landslides and other hazards which can impact greatly on our small communities.” stated Mrs. Etienne-LeBlanc.
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) was represented at the Workshop by Trevor Payne who is part of a team examining the preparedness of Caribbean island states for Climate Change. He highlighted the work of the Red Cross globally as it relates to this worrying trend. He said, “As warmer temperatures affect agriculture, coastal areas and human health, like deaths due to heat waves, allergies and diseases like malaria and dengue, the Red Cross will have an increasingly important role to play, particularly in educating the public. We have to continue to work on the local level in communities to build capacity to deal with climate change and the dissemination of information will play a big part as well as training in Vulnerability Capacity Assessment and Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT) and conducting water management, reforestation and youth programmes,” he concluded.
The presence of Mr. Payne and his colleagues in the Caribbean has been funded by the Climate Centre at The Hague in the Netherlands and the European Union and they are charged with the task of looking at the impact of climate change at the national level, how that will affect the work of the Red Cross, ways to integrate climate change into the organization’s programmes and formulating the structure for doing so. Coming out of this session, a team comprising all stakeholders will be set up to look at climate change on a national level in order to chart a way forward for dealing head-on with its effects.
It is time that this propaganda on climate change stops. The earth and climate have been changing for thousands of years and humans have not had a lot to do with it.
Governments and their corporate friends on the other hand have had a small impact.
So why don’t you study that? Start with the chemtrailing by the jets, the nuclear explosions and testing worldwide, the dumping of pollutants into the atmosphere and waterways by the big corporations, etc.
What a waste of time and money this whole “climate change” agenda is. They take people that are supposedly educated (but in reality brainwashed and trying to please the masters) and selling them on something that is a COMPLETE DIVERSION, so that they will not pay attention to the financial and economic takeovers taking place. Notice that the media doesn’t cover the really newsworthy items.
Quit buying in to the BS of the elite. They are leading you by the nose to your doom.
Man is no match for nature. Nature always wins in the end.
Keep your eye on the money.