Climate Change
Introduction
As a
researcher who has been working in the field of science for the past 8 years I
have developed a particular interest in climate change. In fact one of my major
researches has been to develop ways of lowering the impact of greenhouse gases
from major industries such as energy and petrol. After doing this research and seeing the
effects of climate change globally I have become more aware of the impact of
climate change on my country, hence I will seek to discuss my concerns in this
essay.
Intoxicated with natural
beauty, luscious mountains, white sand beaches, Jamaica the third largest
Caribbean island, is what we call paradise. However, being a small island state
has made it amongst the most vulnerable to climate change. Some of the inherent
circumstances which have made Jamaica vulnerable are; the limited physical
size, isolation of the island and high
susceptibility to natural hazards such as hurricanes, severe flooding and droughts.This beautiful Caribbean island has loss
millions of dollars in infrastructure and worst of all human life, to these natural disasters. I believe that
Jamaica’s major industries Tourism, Agriculture and Bauxite have been the main
contributors to this climate change.
Tourism
According to Allison Richards, Urban and Regional Planner of
the Planning Institute of Jamaica, this exquisite island is the premier
destination for over two million tourists each year and its market provides 1
in every 4 jobs in this country. She adds however that the tourism market
contributes two-thirds of the environmental changes in Jamaica, which has had severe
impacts on the country.
The clearing of inland
areas for tourism facilities have led to extensive deforestation. In addition
to this the industry has allowed mass migration of people seeking jobs, in
urban areas which were previously inaccessible. This migration results in the
increase of the population, which leads to a rapid increase in demand for and
exploitation of natural resources such as water and lumber. Many of these job
seekers form squatter communities on the hillsides near to the hotels, which
contribute to further deforestation, and soil erosion. An example of this
impact can be seen in Ocho Rios, a popular tourist destination in Jamaica.
The excessive use of
water by hotels destroys and degrades water resources; this is based on facts
from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica which states that like energy, the
tourist demand for water normally exceeds that of local residents. For example the usage of 396 gallons per day for a single
high –standard hotel room, facilities such as an average 18-hole golf course
that uses as much water as a 2,000-room high-class hotel, swimming pools and
lawns. These activities will eventually dry up streams and damage the health of
terrestrial, aquatic and marine habitats.
Bauxite
Jamaica is one of the world’s producers of
bauxite ore and exporter of alumina. While the country benefits greatly in terms of revenue from the
production of this metal ore, it has had a severe environmental impact on the
country. Some of the concerns that the EMS Key Economic Report states are the inappropriate
disposal of waste material such as caustic soda and air pollution. The land
mass is limited and cannot accommodate the disposal of high volumes of waste
material, caustic soda. Excessive caustic soda sometimes causes contamination
of water supplies which seeps into the groundwater supply and causes severe
health problems to those consuming the water. In terms of the production of
alumina, green house gases are released into atmosphere and contributes to the
destruction of the ozone layer.
Agriculture
The agriculture sector
has had certain farming practices which have had a significant impact on the
environment. The cultivation of steep hillsides has created high exposure of
the soil and when there is rainfall serious erosion occurs. A practice such as
slash and burning has also increased the risk of erosion and sometimes burn
farming causes large fires which contribute to deforestation. Agriculture has
loss great revenue to climate change yearly. Last year over 10,000 farmers were
affected in the rural parish of St. Elizabeth due to drought. The amount of damage
included loss of crops, cattle, sheep and goat. The cost incurred was estimated
to be J$ 60 million.
The increase in flooding and
hurricanes had caused millions of damage. According to Gleaner Newspaper
Hurricane Ivan in 2004 cost US$137.9 million in damage and approximately 8000
farmers were out of work during the recovery phase, as their farms were
damaged. In the coffee industry alone there was 45 per cent crop damage in the
coffee industry. In 2005 it was estimated that hurricane Dennis and hurricane
Emily would have cost Ja$ 200 million in agriculture loss. The coffee and
bananas were among the industries that suffered the most damage. For every
natural disaster it is estimated that over 60 per cent of farmers have damage
to farm animals or crops, which affects their livelihood.
Conclusion
What does the future
looks like for a Caribbean island that boasts sun, sea and sand? Based on my
findings it could be concluded that as Jamaicans and the wider community if we do
not make the effort to implement practices, such as ecotourism, proper disposal
of alumina waste and better agricultural practices we will pay dearly. We need
to minimise the impact of climate change on my country and the world in order
to have sustainable development, so that in the future we will have an decrease
occurrence of hurricanes, flooding and drought. If we continue to destroy the
hillsides, coastal areas that are to protecting us as well as other natural
habitats then this will lead to greater disasters, loss of lives and
livelihood. We must solve our environmental problems and live in harmony with
nature. This can only be achieved if our people are educated on environmental issues
and make a deliberate to effort to care for and protect our planet so that it
may protect us and future generations to come.
References
2. Statistical Institute of Jamaica.
(2006)Environment Statistics 2005 and water. Jamaica: Statistical Institute of
Jamaica.
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