Climate change is real

The 2021 Global Conference on Health & Climate Change held in late October to early November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland may seem to be just another talk shop to some people, but to us in Jamaica, it is a deathly serious matter.

Pity two major polluters, China and Russia refused to attend.

Hellshire beach, before

The fact is though, that while it is the rich countries that are the major polluters and destroyers of our planet, it is small poor states and especially islands, that are already bearing the brunt.

Look at the poor island of Madagascar. Already a huge section of that island has been suffering from a chronic drought for the past four years, resulting in over a million people facing a devastating famine.

We will certainly be hearing similar heart-breaking stories from other places in the near future as storms, floods, droughts  and other natural disasters increase in intensity.

Right now in our own vulnerable island of Jamaica, beach erosion caused by global warming which causes sea levels to rise, has already started to destroy the source of income for hundreds of fishermen and other small entrepreneurs.

This came home to me starkly last year when a group of us went over to Hellshire Beach, a popular  seafood mecca near Kingston.

There hundreds of small entrepeneurs have made a good living for years, feeding those who have journeyed from Kingston and other areas to swim and enjoy their delicious fare.

No beach left at Hellshire

It had also been a regular hangout for my cycling club. We would ride over to the beach, swim, eat breakfast and have a wonderful time, then return to Kington. However, through the rising waters, the beautiful beach has virtually gone, putting hundreds of people out of business, as who wants to go there to eat the delicious seafood that they prepare, if you can’t swim anymore?

Where will we swim?

Other areas of Jamaica are already seeing the creeping disaster too. Among them is another very popular seafood food and fishing area at Alligator Pond in Manchester. 

St. Elizabeth is not being spared either, for residents of Calabash Bay are growing increasingly anxious as their beach slowly disappears.

Yes, many look at the issue of Climate Change and conferences in Europe as being remote and not of interest to us. But they are, for, on the ground the effects of global warming are being felt at the local level.

It is therefore heartening that our Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the extremely articulate Prime Minister Mia Motley of Barbados and other leading Caribbean leaders, made their way to that conference to put our story on to the front burner before it is too late.

The rich countries have promised to curb their destructive habits and make funding available to mitigate the problem. We can be cynical and say we have heard that before or we can become persistent  lobbyists to ensure that they do.

Because for us the dangers are imminent and real.

https://youtu.be/Lqu9pMsvagg