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APRIL  2 0 0 9Issue 27
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CLIMATE EXPERTS WARN : WE RISK “IRREVERSIBLE” SHIFTS Hundreds of leading climate scientists wrapped up a recent three-day conference with a warning that global warming is accelerating beyond the worst predictions and threatening to trigger "irreversible" shifts on the planet. Attended by some 2,000 experts, the conference aimed at updating the findings of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ahead of U.N. talks in December on a new global climate treaty. "The worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories (or even worse) are being realized," a team of scientists wrote in a concluding statement. "There is a significant risk that many of the trends will accelerate, leading to an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climatic shifts." The IPCC predicted a sea level rise of 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century, which could flood low-lying areas and force millions to flee. But more recent research presented at the conference suggested that melting glaciers and ice sheets could help push the sea level up at least 20 inches, and possibly as much as 39 inches. "Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change with poor nations and communities particularly at risk," the statement said. The conclusions of the congress will be presented to politicians when they meet in Copenhagen in December to discuss a new global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. "We know from scientific evidence that climate change is a reality and that climate change will have damaging effects on the economy all over the world," said Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “Therefore we need an agreement and we need an agreement this year." British economist Nicholas Stern, the author of a major British government report detailing the cost of climate change, told the conference that the global recession presents an opportunity to build a more energy-efficient economy. "Coming out of this we have got to lay the foundations for a low-carbon growth, which is going to be like the railways, like the electricity, like the motorcars, this is going to be over the next two, three decades the big driver in investment," Stern said. Stern said green investments make sense because energy-efficient economies will be more sustainable in the future. "We know from this crisis that if we postpone looking risk in the face, it will bite us much more deeply," he said.  NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY TRACKS CARIBBEAN POLLUTION A UN agency is using nuclear material and technologies to study coastal pollution in a dozen Caribbean countries caused mainly by oil refineries, its officials said. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is focusing on marine pollution in this project because the sea is vital to the region, accounting for up to 60 percent of the gross domestic products of some countries. "We are using nuclear techniques to study and improve the environment," said Joan Albert Sanchez-Cabeza, who is responsible for radiometry at the IAEA's marine laboratories in Monaco. Sanchez-Cabeza said the IAEA is gauging the presence in Caribbean waters of heavy metals like lead, zinc and nickel, as well as pesticides and plaguicides, and studying how it has evolved over time. Radioactive isotopes like lead 210, cesium 137, or carbon 14 are used to trace those changes in a given place "to see what measures have been taken and what has or has not worked," the Spanish scientist said. He said they examine sediments because "they are like a book." "Everything that humans do leaves an impression somewhere -- in lake beds, in the rings of trees, the ice sheets, among others," he said. He said the project has already established levels of pollution in some areas for the first time, but it will be some months before there are overall results. "These techniques are helpful to governments because they enable them to see where there have been improvements in terms of environmental pollution and where more needs to be done," said Misael Diaz, a Cuban researcher with the Center of Environmental Studies in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Diaz is working on the IAEA's most advanced environmental study, in the Bay of Havana. "To draw conclusions, we need to compare current data with the historic use of this ecosystem," he said. Jane Gerardo-Abaya, who directs the IAEA program, said people sometimes worry when they hear radioactive materials are being used in the study, but she attributed that to a lack of public information. "These techniques are valid, very useful and harmless because our mandate is to ensure the peaceful use of atomic energy," she said. | ||||
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Fish in the Caribbean have declined significantly since 1995, suggesting that 30 years of steady coral loss in the region is taking its toll, new research shows. The overall density of fish in the Caribbean thinned an average of 5 percent annually between 1996 and 2007, according to a study published in today's Current Biology. The findings are based on an analysis of 48 previous studies over half a century and included 273 fish species. In addition the world's coral is dying at record rates because of pollution, disease and global warming. In the Caribbean, 80 percent of coral has died over the past three decades, at a rate of about 8 percent a year, says study co-author Michelle Paddack, a post-doc in biological sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada. But the effect on fish there has only become apparent in the last dozen years.  Some fish are especially affected: herbivores such as parrot fish and surgeons, invertivores such as butterfly fish, and carnivores like grunt. Overfishing is responsible for some of the loss of species in the Caribbean, but "as their habitat is degrading, it's affecting all fish, whether they're fished or not," Paddack says. SANDALS RESORTS INTERNATIONAL CREATES FOUNDATION Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals Resorts International has announced the creation of The Sandals Foundation, the Caribbean resort company’s official philanthropic arm. The newly established organization will aim to unite the region under one common goal: to elevate its people and protect its delicate ecosystem. The Sandals Foundation seeks to harness the resources, talents, partnerships and awareness behind the Sandals Resorts brand to tackle a myriad of issues affecting the Caribbean under three broad headings: 1). community, 2). education and 3). environment. According to Stewart, the Foundation will make a real difference in the Caribbean through “changing lives, shaping futures and lifting spirits” and will enable Sandals to significantly increase its financial commitment to people and communities most in need to USD11 million (per year) by 2011. Corporate social responsibility has been an operations mandate at Sandals since the company’s founding in 1982. According to Stewart, the work of the Foundation is both a mission and passion for his family. Citing that education “provides the best opportunity for individuals as well as nations to improve their lot,” Stewart emphasized that this will continue be a cornerstone of the Foundation’s work. Under the Foundation, Mentorship programs will also be expanded and fostered further to encourage and nurture the success of local residents. Healthcare and empowerment are also top community priorities for The Sandals Foundation. The company sponsors several health clinics to help ensure that all members of the community have access to proper healthcare. Each year, the company supports the international humanitarian group, “Great Shape 1000 Smiles Project,” that provides communities in Jamaica with free dental care. Through this backing, more than thirty dental professionals from the U.S. provide a range of complimentary services. Education programs aimed at healthy living are also part of the Foundation’s work including HIV/AIDS awareness, senior citizen wellness and youth arts and sports programs. Hospitality training programs for resident citizens and agricultural partnerships with local farmers are among the empowerment programs that teach lifelong skills and provide economic opportunity. The final component to the Foundation’s mission is the environment and here, Sandals Resorts has a long tradition of protecting the region it calls home. Today, all Resorts are certified by Green Globe – the worldwide the benchmarking and certification program for sustainable travel and tourism. This was achieved in concert with the local community where Sandals, and now The Sandals Foundation, work to restore, clean and maintain the region’s delicate coral reef; educate fishermen on environmentally-friendly fishing practices; and regularly conduct beach clean-ups and tree-planting programs. IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CARIBBEAN FISHERIES SECTOR Climate change is starting to have serious negative effects on the fragile marine ecosystems that support Caribbean fishing industries, yet many fisheries management plans do not provide for these effects nor are fisher folk receiving the necessary information to help them adapt. These are two of the concerns raised in a report recently released by the Marine Resource Governance in the Eastern Caribbean Project of the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the University of the West Indies' Cave Hill campus. The report stems from the Fishers Forum on 'Climate change and small-scale fisheries in the Caribbean' that occurred at the 61st Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) Conference in Guadeloupe last November.  The report compiles perspectives on the impact of climate change on the livelihoods of fisher folk from presentations made at the Forum by CERMES senior lecturers Dr Patrick McConney and Dr Leonard Nurse; CERMES MSc student and Antiguan deputy chief fisheries officer, Philmore James; regional fisher folk leader Mitchell Lay; and veteran Barbadian fisher Anderson Kinch as well as other fisheries scientists, fishermen, and marine science experts gathered for the meeting. The report points out that, while much attention has been paid to the devastating impact that climate change can have on coral reefs in the region, including the widespread 'bleaching' death on reefs across the Caribbean in 2005 due to rising water temperatures, little research has been carried out into the potential impact of the phenomenon on the fishing, fish processing, trade and fisheries technical support services related to small-scale fisheries. Changes to migratory patterns of fish and bird species throughout the Caribbean region; the invasion of marine species previously unknown in regional waters; the increase in ciguatera poisoning of fish in the north-eastern Caribbean; and the impacts of sea level rise and warmer waters on fishing activity were all scenarios that participants raised during the forum. This, stated the report, pointed to a need to place on the regional climate change agenda more demand-driven research regarding the phenomenon's effects on small-scale fisheries, especially given the uncertainty about the impacts on their livelihood from climate change and the possible responses fishers could take to mitigate its negative effects. The document noted that these effects could include the destruction of fishers' homes and fishing grounds along coastal areas due to sea level rising, storm surges and the increased violence and frequency of hurricanes. It also said that small-scale fishers are also particularly vulnerable to these natural disasters due to a general lack of insurance and institutional support to help them recover in the aftermath of these extreme events. CERMES and partner organizations are planning more research and public outreach initiatives to address climate change impacts on fisheries. | ||||
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