Prime Minister Andrew Holness has noted that the island’s infrastructure has become obsolete and is not able to withstand current weather events.
“Jamaica is now experiencing longer and more intense periods of drought, followed by shorter and more vigorous rainfall in sections of the island that were previously not prone to such heavy rains. This shift has been overwhelming the existing infrastructure and resulting in flooding,” he said in a press release yesterday.
His statement came a day after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report highlighting the urgency for coordinated action to address the unparalleled changes in the ocean and in frozen regions.
To date, the ocean has taken up more than 90 per cent of the excess heat in the climate system, and sea levels are currently rising more than twice as fast as they did in the 20th century.
The IPCC was established by the United Nations and has 195 member governments, including Jamaica.
IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee explained that if countries reduce emissions, the consequences for people and their livelihoods would still be challenging but more manageable for the most vulnerable.
“The open sea, the Arctic, the Antarctic, and the high mountains may seem far away to many people, but we depend on them and are influenced by them directly and indirectly in many ways – for weather and climate, for food and water, for energy, trade, transport, recreation and tourism, for health and well-being, for culture and identity,” Lee said.
The IPCC warns that ocean warming, loss of oxygen, and changes in nutrient supplies are already affecting the distribution and abundance of marine life.
“In the future, some regions, notably tropical oceans, will see further decreases, and communities that depend highly on seafood may face risks to nutritional health and food security,” the report said.
The report also provided information to empower governments to strategise and take urgent action.
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