Addressing Climate Change in the Caribbean: A Toolkit ... - CANARI

The region is becoming warmer and drier and rainfall patterns are changing. Waterscarce
islands like Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St. Kitts and Nevis could be faced with
severe drought and water shortages because of longer dry seasons. Climate change also causes
more intense wet seasons and so in recent years, heavy rainfalls have caused catastrophic flooding
and landslides in Guyana, Haiti, and Jamaica.
Climate change is putting severe stress on coral reefs. Coral reefs are very important to
people living in islands and coastal states. They are home to many tropical or reef fish and support
fisheries. They produce sand and help protect the coast from storm surges and wave damage.
Warmer waters cause corals to expel the small plant organisms (algae) that live in them. When this
happens the corals go white or ‘bleach’. Bleached corals can eventually die. Strong hurricanes also
put pressure on the reefs, most of which are already damaged by pollution from the land, overfishing
and disease. In 2005, the Caribbean had a record-breaking hurricane season and a massive
coral bleaching episode.
Rising sea levels could make the coastal zones in some places disappear, and even all or most
of some low-lying islands like Barbuda and the British Virgin Island of Anegada. Damage to the
coastal zone has disastrous effects on our economies and the industries that rely on coastal
resources. Most people in the Caribbean (70%) live and work in the coastal zone and it is also where
much of the infrastructure, like roads, airports, and sea ports, is found.
Warmer waters are bad for some Caribbean marine species. The Caribbean Sea has
already warmed by 1.5°C in the past century. If it were to become a further 1°C warmer, fish like
tuna and parrotfish, would go in search of cooler waters. Loss of the parrotfish would remove a
favourite meal from our dinner tables. It would also affect coral reef health because this fish prevents
a certain type of algae from overgrowing the reefs. 8
Whales feed in cold water but travel to warmer waters to give
birth. Each year thousands of humpback whales make the
long journey from the Gulf of Maine on the northeast coast of
the United States of America, to Samaná Bay on the
northeast coast of the Dominican Republic where they give
birth and mate for the next season. Their usual breeding
season runs between late December and March, but
authorities in the Marine Mammal Sanctuary in Samaná Bay
are noticing that the whales are coming later and leaving
earlier than they used to do. Scientists think climate change is
to blame and speculate that warmer waters in the north
encourage them to stay there longer. Whale watching is a
tourist attraction in the Dominican Republic and if the whales
stop going there it would affect the local economy in Samaná
Bay and its surroundings. Plans are underway for scientists in
the Marine Mammal Sanctuary to team up with their
counterparts in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary in Maine to study the effects of warming waters on
whale migration. Photo: Leslie Dibos/CEBSE, Inc
8
Moxam, E. 2008. “Fish exodus looms - Climate change could drive away species from Jamaica” Gleaner Online, Monday, 10 March 2008 http://www.jamaicagleaner.com/gleaner/20080310/lead/lead1.html
Climate Change Community Toolkit/Christian Aid (Caribbean) 7