Wild Tobago

  Dr Anjani Ganase reviews the latest reports on climate change from the world’s scientists. They indicate that small island states must take care of the land (agro-forestry) and manage marine resources… with urgency. (First published in the Newsday TT on March 10, 2022)   Global research has concluded that climate change continues to adversely impact most natural and human systems around the world, including many ecological services, such as food and water supply, pollination, clean air, tourism, health, clean water, coastal protection, and climate regulation. For humans, water and food production, health and wellbeing, have all diminished. About 3.3 to 3.6 billion people (more than one-third of the world population) live in hotspots vulnerable to high impacts of climate change. Many of these areas already have social and environmental ills, such as failing governance and poverty. Central and South America, West and East Central Africa, South Asia, and small island stat...

Dr Anjani Ganase presents important take-aways from the latest (2019) IPCC report, with recommendations for governments and communities For island nations, the ocean has multiple roles: it defines our boundaries and uniqueness, yet it is the means for exchange of goods and services. The ocean is our major source of food and recreation; and the resource that supports livelihoods, communities and economies. The marine environment around Trinidad and Tobago includes coral reefs that fringe our coastlines but extend to deep ocean habitats beyond the edge of the continental shelf. On a broader scale, the ocean is our regulator of climate, absorbing heat from the atmosphere (more than 90 % of it) and carbon dioxide. Trinidad and Tobago’s close connection to the ocean, like that of many other small island developing states (SIDS), also makes us more vulnerable to the changes in the ocean system. The latest Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC Special Report on Oceans and ...