Climate Change

The Australian Academy of Science defines climate change as the change in patterns of weather
and related changes in the oceans, land surface and ice sheets occurring over scale of decades or
longer. The academy explains that climate change is due to the large mass of greenhouse gases
(example, carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere that prevents heat from escaping the earth’s surface
whereby gradually increasing the overall temperature globally.

Scientists are expressing their concerns about the negative effects that are caused by climate
change. Doctor Adrian Champion stated, “The climate change projections are that we’ll get
fewer but more intense cyclones in the future.” Loop reports that Kishan Kumarsingh who is the
head of Multilateral Environmental Agreement at the ministry of Planning and Development has
explained that the severity of storms in the Caribbean is due to the warming of oceans.

Weatherbug.com reports that in the year 2017 alone there were six major hurricanes while in the
prior five years there were a total of nine major hurricanes. The Federation of American
Scientists reports that one of the hurricanes of 2017, Irma, was responsible for destroying an
estimated 95% of the infrastructure in Barbuda which roughly cost the country 300 million
dollars.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) stated that the rise in sea levels is
another problem of climate change due to the melting of glaciers. Doctor Mark Bynoe who is an
environmental economist stated, “The potential threat is severe, with a one degree increase we
could get a three-to six-foot increase in sea levels.”

The Caribbean also faces droughts due to climate change. The United Nations reports that seven
Caribbean countries are among the top thirty-six water stressed countries in the world. The Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is a part of the United Nations says that droughts are
becoming more frequent in the Caribbean which causes a shortage of food supply. An example
of this is the Caribbean country of Haiti. Drought has led to 3.6 million Haitians facing food
insecurity.

Climate change can give rise to health issues says The Carbon brief website. For example, there
can be an increase in the transmission of vector borne diseases such as dengue fever since
mosquitoes are able to venture into places that were once cooler but now have become warm due
to climate change.

“abc News” reports that Michael Mann who is an atmospheric science professor says that
countries need to completely reduce carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and begin
to depend on renewable sources of energy (such as solar or nuclear) in order to reduce the
world’s temperature by 2 degrees Celsius. The United Nations also propose that 70-80 percent of
the electrical energy used by the year 2050 should be from renewable sources of energy in order
to reduce the rapid and negative effect of climate change.
The United Nations are urging Caribbean countries to take certain measures in order to alleviate
the negative effects of climate change. These measures are referred to as mitigation and adaption
by the United Nations. Mitigation as defined by the United Nations refers to efforts to reduce or
prevent emission of greenhouse gases. Adaption as defined by the United Nations refers to
adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic
stimuli and their effects or impacts.

The Office of Disaster and Preparedness (ODPM) suggest that in Trinidad and Tobago actions
such as lessening deforestation and improving the efficiency of machinery in the production
sector to low carbon technology will help to mitigate climate change. The ODPM also suggest
that costal development should be limited or the construction of costal defense systems should be
implemented to adapt to the rise in sea levels.

There are other steps also being taken in various parts of the Caribbean to mitigate climate
change as said by the Caribbean Beat magazines. For example, in some parts of Jamaica
renewable sources of energy such as solar and hydro-electric energy are being used in order to
reduce the amount of fossil fuels burnt.

Almost all of the information and data used in this expository were from valid sources. The
definition for climate change came from a report entitled “What is Climate Change” that was
written in 2015 by scientists from the Australian Academy of Sciences. The information was
therefore accurate as it was written by a team of researchers in the fields of climate change and
was edited by several different scientists. Their definition on climate change is relevant to the
Caribbean since Climate change is a global phenomenon.

‘Loop’, which is a news reporting website was another source used for gathering information.
The article was published online in 2018 in which the website referenced a credible source of
information, Kishan Kumarsingh who is the head of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements
at the Ministry of Planning and Development in Trinidad and Tobago. Therefore the information
was relevant and accurate to events such as more intense storms happening in the Caribbean.

The weatherbug.com website can be considered as a reliable current website since the article:
“2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season By The Numbers: An Extremely Active Season” was written in
2018. This information is considered relevant to the Caribbean since it gives information on the
increase in the number of hurricanes that occurred in one year which severely affected parts of
the Caribbean The information is also accurate since it was written by a meteorologist named
Alexa Maines.

The Federation of American Scientists can be considered a reliable source of information since
they are a group of experts in various fields of science which includes climate change. The
article “Hurricanes Irma and Maria: Impact on Caribbean Countries and Foreign Territories” in
which information for this expository was obtained was written in 2017, therefore it was current.
It gives statistical data that is relevant since it refers to the destruction caused by hurricanes in
2017 to Caribbean islands.

The Carbon Brief website delivered current information that was written in 2017 by a reporter
named Daisy Dunne which was relevant since vector borne diseases occur in the Caribbean. The
information in which she presented may not have been as accurate as the rest since she was not
an expert in the field. However, she reported information based on Hugh Montgomery who is a
professor at the University College London.

All the information that was used from the United Nations website was from within 8 years
therefore it can be considered as current information and it was also relevant since climate
change affects the Caribbean and methods to alleviate its negative effects are important. The
United Nations have their team of expert scientists and therefore the scientific information they
publish is accurate.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) published an article in 2018 hence
it can be considered as current information and it pertained to rising sea levels. The article may
not be as reliable as some of the others used in this expository piece since it may not have been
written by experts. However, the CCCCC is recognized by the United Nations therefore there
must be some standard of accuracy and reliability in the article.

“abcNews” is an international news media that published the article: “Scientists: Time running
short before climate change effects are 'irreversible”and is relevant since the Caribbean burns a
lot of fossil fuels that lead to carbon emissions in the atmosphere. The information on the
website was current as it was published in 2018 and is accurate since they are internationally
famous for reporting accurate news by using credible experts on the topic being discussed.

The Office of Disaster and Preparedness is an accurate and valid site which is recognized by the
government of Trinidad and Tobago in which the information is current as it was published in
2013. It is also relevant since adaption methods to combat sea level rise is important to
Caribbean islands.

The Caribbean Beat article by James Fuller entitled “Sun, wind and water: climate change in the
Caribbean” was published within the last ten years. Therefore, it can still be considered as
current information. The articles contents would be accurate since it is a famous magazine
published by Caribbean Airlines and individuals of the public expect a high standard of
accuracy. The information in this article is relevant to the Caribbean as it speaks of renewable
sources of energy to limit the burning of fossil fuels.