Cuba prepares for the effects of climate change

By María Josefina Arce.

The World Meteorological Organization has warned that in the year that just ended, the effects of climate change were visible all over the planet.

Celeste Saulo, secretary general of the world body, pointed out that climate change is manifesting itself before our eyes almost daily in an increase in the frequency and impact of extreme meteorological phenomena.

The threat is even greater for island nations like Cuba, which, paradoxically, are the least emitters of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

For this reason, the Caribbean nation is paying special attention to this phenomenon and is preparing for changing climate scenarios, even under the difficult conditions created by the US blockade.

For years, the country has been developing various projects, such as "Mi Costa", to increase resilience to the effects of climate change, and since 2017 it has had Tarea Vida, a national policy to address this threat.

This plan, based on a multidisciplinary scientific basis, includes five strategic actions and 11 tasks.

Now, the Institute of Geophysics and Astronomy of Cuba has updated 12 studies on hazards, vulnerabilities and risks, which are the basis for the specification of adaptation measures.

This research update covers the six coastal municipalities of Havana. Thus, according to experts, it allowed an environmental diagnosis with a gender and social inclusion perspective in Plaza, Playa, Centro Habana, Habana Vieja, Regla and Habana del Este, where a total of more than 700,000 people live.

The information included the characterization and evaluation of karst in the coastal area of Havana, a term that, according to specialists, defines the set of phenomena and processes that occur under the action of water in places with soluble rocks.

In this regard, emphasis has been placed on the danger, vulnerability and catastrophic contingencies due to landslides and potential subsidence, situations related to sea level rise and groundwater.

Cuba remains attentive and, even in the midst of a complex economic situation, is adapting its development projects to mitigate the effects of climate change, involving the entire population in this essential task.