The task of preserving the future
WE are hearing from the weather experts that Tuesday, July 4 was the hottest day on record across the northern hemisphere.
Ordinary people will hardly see the qualitative difference in terms of an actual date, but they know that in recent weeks the heat has been well nigh unbearable.
In Jamaica we are being told by the electricity provider, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), that last week there was a new peak demand in electricity usage at 692 megawatts (MW), up from the previous record of 675 MW last month.
It’s the result, apparently, of more use than usual of air-conditioning units and electric fans to cool down.
News reports say that in central Jamaica chicken farmers are worried, as an increasing number of their birds are succumbing to the heat. There could be negative spin-offs for the poultry market and the industry.
Bad as the situation is in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, the very same trade winds carrying the unwanted Sahara dust across the Atlantic do also have a cooling effect.
The situation is much worse in many other parts of the world, including Europe, North America, and Asia with medics worrying about the threat to the most vulnerable, including the elderly and those with underlying ailments.
Of course those categories are also vulnerable in Jamaica with temperatures often in the high 30s, even bordering 40 degrees Celsius in some places, in peak daytime hours.
Much of this is said to be the effect of climate change — global warming — largely influenced by human activity.
It’s a situation which scientists say could have been substantially avoided had humans been more caring for planet Earth by seeking to preserve forests and replant trees.
Deforestation over time — not just in the Amazon region of South America where fingers are often pointed — accelerated with phenomenal speed over the last century, helping to trigger heatwaves such as we are now experiencing and which, the experts say, will only get worse.
It serves as a reminder that tree-planting exercises such as occurred on Labour Day two months ago — part of a several-years-old initiative to plant three million trees — are absolutely essential for the greater good of our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.
Presumably, the officers of the Forestry Department are doing their follow-ups to ensure the project is sustained as promised.
Of course, global warming threatens the globe’s entire ecosystem so that — apart from the inland and on-land physical environment — our coastal areas, rivers and oceans must also be protected.
For that reason, projects such as those to restore mangroves across Jamaica — be it in Negril, south Clarendon, Palisadoes, and elsewhere — must be given priority, just as is the case for traditional forests.
“We haven’t done the right things over 50 to 60 years, and we don’t have 50 or 60 years to correct those mistakes, certainly [not] in [regards to] ensuring environmental, social and economic balance. Jamaica has to go fast and far…” minister with responsibility for the environment Senator Matthew Samuda sagely said in early June.
The truth is that, for people everywhere — not least Jamaicans — the message of environmental protection should be preached like gospel, if the future is to be preserved.