The Climate change story

Editor: Paul: Oh gorsh, why vincy extremely hot? This heat is not normal, what ah go on in vincy?

Jessica: I can tell you what is going on “climate change is real and it is not a joke”. The bigger and developing countries are burning a lot of fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is accelerating climate change and affecting us in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Paul: What the hell is wrong with you? Talking about climate change. Because vincy is hot it means climate change? Give me a break. What other signs are there that climate change is real?

Jessica: Climate change refers to significant changes in global temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other measures of climate over several decades or longer. I recently mentioned to you that the bigger and developing countries are burning a lot of fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is accelerating climate change and affecting us in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Do you remember the drought in 2020? That drought was classified as the worse drought to affect Vincy in living memory, it caused water shortage and the Agriculture Industry was seriously affected. Do you remember the freak storm on December 24th 2013 which wreaked havoc on the nation? Climate change causes an increase of rainfall and warmer temperatures which are a good habitat for the aedes aegypti mosquito. These mosquitoes live in the tropics and are responsible for spreading Zika, Dengue fever, Chikungunya, and if you are following the news, Dengue fever is spreading like wild fire in the Caribbean.

The ocean is getting warmer which is causing “coral bleaching” and fisher folk are complaining that the fishes are migrating further out to sea as a result of the ocean getting warmer, which is causing them to spend more money on gasoline. I must also mention, that fan you burning whole day to keep cool, Vinlec would hit you hard with a high electricity bill. I heard the green machine is going around in different villages disconnecting people if they don’t pay their bill.

Paul: Wow, I never thought of all these things. Let me take climate change seriously because I don’t want that green machine to disconnect my electricity bill and I don’t want climate change to affect my health and the environment. One last question, what can I do to mitigate against climate change?

Jessica: Here are some tips:

• Plant more trees and conserving the forest. Trees act as carbon sinks which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis.

• Purchase energy saving bulbs and electrical appliances.

• Turn off lights and electrical appliances before you leave your home, office, and school.

• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycling of your garbage. This would mean less garbage going to the landfill, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions such as Methane. Methane (a heat trapping gas that contributes to global warming is found at landfills). When the waste is decomposed at landfills, it releases methane.

Kimani Wiseman