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Responding to climate change from grassroots up
Posted by Inter Press Service: Desmond Brown on November 8th, 2014
Inter Press Service: As concern mounts over food security, two community groups are on a drive to mobilise average people across Antigua and Barbuda to mitigate and adapt in the wake of global climate change, which is affecting local weather patterns and by extension, agricultural production. "I want at least 10,000 people in Antigua and Barbuda to join with me in this process of trying to mitigate against the effects of climate change," Dr. Evelyn Weekes told IPS. Bhimwattie Sahid picks a papaya in her backyard garden...
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“Blessed” Rains Become a Curse in Antigua
Posted by Inter Press Service: Desmond Brown on February 17th, 2014
Inter Press Service: Antigua is one of the most drought-prone countries in the Caribbean. So whenever it rains, the inhabitants generally regard the weather as "showers of blessing". But that is starting to change. Many farmers now see the rains as a curse and are now fighting an uphill battle to save their crops, vital for both the local and foreign markets."The yield and lifespan [of crops in a greenhouse] basically are three times as much as open-field production." -- Delrie Cole "We are a drought-prone country,"...
Mangroves Help Guyana Defend Against Changing Climate
Posted by Inter Press Service: Desmond Brown on October 26th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Theola Fortune can recall how residents of Victoria would ridicule her and others every time they went into the east coast village to warn residents about the importance of mangroves and the need to protect them.
"They would accuse us of breeding mosquitoes in the community," Fortune said. Yet scientists say that mangrove trees, which grow mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, can shield cities and towns from rising seas and storm surges by creating a natural barrier where the ocean meets...
Optimistic but Cautious, Grenada Bolsters Its Water Resources
Posted by Inter Press Service: Desmond Brown on May 11th, 2013
Inter Press Service: One daunting scientific forecast states that almost half of the world`s population will live in areas of water scarcity by 2030. Yet Christopher Husbands, the head of Grenada`s National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA), is unfazed.
"Nationally, we have adequate resources, certainly taking us way past 2030," he told IPS, adding that for the coming decades Grenada did not need to be overly concerned about the coming water scarcity.
Yet he allowed that two villages in Grenada do not have...
In Dominica, Diminished Rivers Among Climate Change’s Effects
Posted by Inter Press Service: Desmond Brown on December 17th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Eighty-year-old Rupert Lawrence has been living in the Dominica capital, Roseau, for nearly 60 years. Like visitors to the island, he too is fascinated by the fact that the town square has a river running right through its centre.
Sitting on his veranda on River Street overlooking the Roseau River, Lawrence recalled the words of many visitors who would remark that until then, they had never seen a river in the centre of town. But over the years, Lawrence has witnessed the transformation of the...
Caribbean Islands Brace for Challenges of Climate Change
Posted by Inter Press Service: Desmond Brown on September 26th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas remembers how quiet -- even uneventful - this tiny twin-island federation was for the first four decades of his life.
But over the past 10 years, St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as the rest of the Caribbean, have seen radical climatic shifts. There is no question in Douglas`s mind that these changes are the direct results of climate change.
"Growing up, I knew nothing of hurricanes, (but) in the last decade St. Kitts and Nevis has felt the wrath of hurricanes...