Jamaica: in the eye of the (climate change) storm

By Dara Smith

Jamaica’s preparedness to cope with the impact of climate change has come in for some attention at the ongoing 2014 Climate Change Investment Fund Partnership Forum in Montego Bay.

The conference is being held to formulate strategies to combat the climate change phenomenon.

According to Professor Michael Taylor, Director of the Climate Studies Group at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica has been experiencing warmer daytime temperatures and even warmer nights.

“You will notice now, that from May, you begin to get a number of hot days, and by the time you hit June, a greater number of hot days; so it’s not just the summer that it getting hotter – which it is – but you’re also getting more hot days throughout the course of the year,” Professor Taylor explained.

Added to that, he said, are the swings between droughts, rainfall and rising sea levels.

The professor is warning that this kind of vulnerability will only get worse as the years go by.

Over the last 12 years, Jamaica has experienced 11 hydro-meteorological events, affecting the water, sewage, telecoms, transportation, and energy sectors, at a cost of $2.5 billion.

Climate change has also affected coastal resources, costing the country $19.2 million, due to beach erosion in Negril, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay over a ten year period.

Adaptation strategies

Albert Daley, Principal Director of the Climate Change Unit, has asserted that Jamaica must deal with the issues of mitigation, adaption and education.
Eleven key sectors have been identified, he disclosed, with priority focus being placed on agriculture, water, health, tourism and human settlements and coastal resources.

“One of the things we will want to focus on, very importantly, is developing a strategy and adaptation plan for each of the primary sectors,” Mr. Daley said.

“It doesn’t make sense we do this thing here, that thing there, without an organized strategy, a plan as to how we are going to address the overall problem,” he added.

source: rjrnews