Disappearing reefs threaten marine life

tribune242/editorial:



WE WANT to thank our loyal readers who from time to time send us news item they think might interest us, but which we might have missed.

In the past week we have received information picked up on the BBC about the lack of needed knowledge in the Caribbean about the warning signs of an approaching tsunami, and information from London's Mail Online about disappearing coral reefs.

The Mail article by David Derbyshire in San Diego reports scientists as predicting that the rising acid levels in the "seas and the warmer ocean temperatures are wiping out the spectacular reefs enjoyed by millions of divers, tourists and wildlife lovers.

"The destruction would also be a disaster for tropical fish and marine life which use coral reefs as nurseries and feeding grounds," Mr Derbyshire wrote.

Dr Jacob Silverman from the Carnegie Institution in Washington, was quoted as saying that rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were making seas more acidic.

And so, although scientists are disputing whether global man-caused greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is warming the climate, there now is evidence that it is certainly warming our seas, creating more acid, which in turn is breaking up subterranean coral.

Dr Silverman's studies have led him to believe that reefs stop growing and start breaking up when the amount of greenhouse gas reaches twice its pre-industrial level.

He predicted that if present trends continue this could happen by the end of the century.

"These ecosystems, which harbour the highest diversity of marine life in the oceans, may be severely reduced within less than 100 years," he said.

Dr Silverman told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego that reef-building corals are highly sensitive to the acidity and temperature of the seawater in which they grow.

To illustrate the article a dramatic photograph was shown of a mass of dead coral, bleached white. The photo was taken at Australia's Great Barrier Reef, known for its abundant marine life. Scientists believe that rising levels of acid in the sea will kill these reefs within a century.

If man does nothing to reverse this trend, and if it continues at the present rate, another source of man's food will disappear. Recently, there was the bee scare. Scientists were alarmed at the rapidly decreasing colony of bees. Without them there would be no pollination, and without pollination man's food chain would collapse.

Recently, we saw a scientist showing a Bahamian farmer how to care for tomato plants. He told him that every day he should stop at each plant and gently agitate the branch with a flick of the finger. We asked why. "Pollination," he replied, "we have to do the work of the bees, when there are no bees."

And so man's fish supply is being threatened, his meat supply is threatened -- no feed for the animals -- and his plant supply is threatened, while man still debates whether it's necessary to reduce industrial carbon-dioxide emissions. So whichever way we approach the problem, man is digging his own grave. And don't forget, the homes of Bahamians sit atop coral reefs.

And now for the lack of knowledge in the Caribbean to recognise an approaching tsunami.

Dr Hermann Fritz, a civil engineering professor from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and four Haitian colleagues travelled around the coast of Haiti gathering information about a tsunami that was triggered by the 7.0 Port-au-Prince earthquake.

"This was a relatively small event," Dr Fritz told BBC News. "Most of the fatalities were due to the earthquake, but at least three victims we know of survived the earthquake and were hit by the wave."

These three victims were a father and his two young sons. They were standing close to the shore in Petit Paradis, watching the wave instead of heading for higher ground.

"And on the border [with the Dominican Republic], fishermen were taking photos and videos of the draw-down of the sea," he said.

This ominous draw-back in the water level is a classic sign that a big wave is approaching.

"It demonstrated a lack of [tsunami] education," Dr Fritz said. "It was pure luck that the misinformation did not kill more people in this case."

And on Saturday before the all-clear was called on the tsunami watch in Hawaii -- the result of the Chile earthquake -- a CNN announcer reporting from high ground drew viewers attention to a lone figure on the beach below watching as the ocean sucked the sea from the beach. He was obviously a tourist unaware that this was the first sign of an approaching tsunami.

Instead of fleeing for high ground, he stood and watched.


March 01, 2010


tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

To OAS or not to OAS: that is the question

Ronald Sanders





At a meeting of leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean on February 23, Caribbean Community (Caricom) governments supported a joint "Declaration on (the) Falklands Islands Issue".

The Declaration "confirmed their support of Argentina's legitimate rights in the sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands Issue", and recalled "regional interest in having the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom resume negotiations to find a fair, peaceful and definitive solution to the dispute over the sovereignty" of the Falklands/Malvinas islands. They went further to call on the European Union (EU) countries to amend their charter to remove the Falkland Islands from the list of overseas territories associated with the EU.

The support of Latin American countries for Argentina in this matter is quite understandable. They have links of language, culture, history and proximity that go back centuries.

But the support of Caricom countries for Argentina's "legitimate rights" is puzzling. Both the UK and Argentina have claimed the Falklands/Malvinas for almost 200 years. So what now makes Argentina's rights more "legitimate" than Britain's? And why call for "negotiations" between Argentina and Britain to find "a fair, peaceful and definitive solution" to the dispute if it has already been decided that Argentina's rights are "legitimate"?

Unless there is something they have not made public, this position by Caribbean governments appears on the surface to run counter to their own national interests.

The Caribbean has always strongly supported a people's right to self-determination. It is in fulfilment of their own right to self-determination that Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries are independent states. In this regard, since the people of the Falklands/Malvinas have consistently and overwhelmingly chosen to be British, Caribbean governments would certainly not argue that the manifest wish of the people of the Falklands/Malvinas should be ignored, particularly since Britain has exercised de facto sovereignty over the islands continuously since 1833.

The national interests of 12 of the 14 independent Caricom countries are much more bound up with Britain than they are with Argentina. Caricom's trade with Britain far exceeds trade with Argentina; investment in Caricom countries from Britain is much greater than any investment from Argentina; official development assistance from Britain to Caricom countries directly and indirectly (through the European Union and the Commonwealth for instance) is much larger than any assistance from Argentina; the number of tourists from Britain to Caricom countries is considerably greater than from Argentina; and far more Caricom nationals live, work and study in Britain than in Argentina.

What appears to have triggered this discussion at the 33-nation Cancun meeting is the fact that a British oil exploration company, Desire Petroleum Plc, announced that it had started drilling for oil 60 miles (100 kilometres) north of the Falklands/Malvinas. Argentina objects to this development.

In giving support to Argentina, Caricom countries run the risk of compromising their own interest. For instance, where would they stand if Venezuela objected to oil exploration off part of Guyana, despite long-standing international arbitrations and agreements confirming Guyana's title? Also, where would these countries stand if Venezuela objected to oil explorations that might be granted by some of them near Aves Island/Bird Rock to which Venezuela lays claim? In the case of Belize where Guatemala claims the entire country, the same argument applies.

Then we come to the matter of the creation of a grouping of these 33 countries that excludes Canada and the United States. Some of the Latin American leaders - in particular those with a strong anti-American position - proclaimed to the media that this new grouping should replace the Organisation of American States (OAS).

Well, replacing the OAS is simply in no country's interest - not even those with the most rabid anti-American governments. There has to be a forum in the Hemisphere where all its countries are represented and where discussions can take place at all levels of government and on all issues. And that organisation is clearly the already well-established OAS. In this regard, Cuba should return to the OAS and the exclusion of the present elected government of Honduras should cease.

In any event, I suspect that only a very few governments touted the idea of an "alternative" organisation to the OAS and even fewer would have supported it. Certainly for Caricom countries, there is no other organisation in which they can engage the US government on a regular and sustained basis at all levels. That alone makes the OAS worthwhile for them.

Further, Caricom governments greatly value their relations with Canada, which has been an ally and partner for generations in the Hemisphere and in the Commonwealth. They would want deeper, not distant relations with Canada.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Latin American and Caribbean countries establishing a grouping that is not an alternative to the OAS, but is additional to it.

However, no one should believe that it will be anything more than an opportunity for dialogue at the leadership level. It will have no secretariat and therefore little means of implementing decisions; decisions will have to be made by consensus, therefore no binding decisions will be made. In truth, the grouping is so amorphous and is made up of countries at such different levels of development and with such differing interests and ambitions, that its meetings will largely be obligatory and its decisions only declaratory.

The Summit "Declaration of Cancun" does have as one of its objectives "the co-ordination of regional positions ahead of meetings and conferences of global reach... to project the region and increase its influence". This is to be welcomed provided that the view of smaller Caribbean islands are seriously considered and reflected by the larger Latin American states.

This brings us to the OAS itself. The US government should regard this move by Latin American and Caribbean countries to set up a Hemispheric grouping, which deliberately excludes it, as a firm warning that its neglect of Latin America and the Caribbean's development needs and issues, and its oftentimes casual dismissal of their positions is not in the interest of the United States. The authorities in Washington need to engage Latin American and Caribbean countries as genuine partners and neighbours, and a strengthened and revitalised OAS is the place to do so.

In this connection, Caricom countries should indicate their support for the re-election on March 23 of the incumbent Secretary General José Miguel Insulza. His task over the last five years in a fractious organisation, which also relies on consensus for decision-making, has not been easy. But he has tried to introduce reforms and he has been the most forceful secretary general the OAS has seen for a long time. Additionally, he has been very mindful of his obligations to his Caribbean member states.

He has also taken on Hugo Chavez over violations of media freedom in Venezuela and he has not been afraid to point out shortcomings by the US government. To have offended both these adversaries, he must have done something right for the rest.

Over the next five and final years as secretary general, Insulza can be bold in giving the OAS real direction in reforming its mandate and establishing it as a meaningful forum for settling hemispheric issues and advancing democracy, development and human rights.

Responses and previous commentaries at: www.sirronaldsanders.com


Sir Ronald Sanders is a consultant and former Caribbean diplomat.


February 28, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

The shamelessness of the United States government

ONE out of every four prisoners in the world is in a U.S. penitentiary. The composition of these prisoners is profoundly racist: one out of every 15 black adults is incarcerated; one out of every 9 is aged 20-34 years; and one out of every 36 Hispanics. Two-thirds of those serving life sentences are African Americans or Latinos, and in the case of New York state, only 16.3% of prisoners are white.

Every year, 7,000 people die in U.S. prisons, many of them murdered or suicides.

For example, U.S. prison guards routinely use Taser guns on prisoners. According to a recent report, 230 U.S. citizens have died as a result of the use of these weapons since 2001. The report refers to the case of a county jail in Garfield, Colorado, accused of regularly using Taser guns and pepper spray on prisoners, and then tying them to chairs in extreme positions for hours at a time.

It was recently reported that 72 people have died in the last five years in immigrant detention centers.

A report released by the U.S. Justice Department during W. Bush’s final term in office said that 22,480 prisoners in state and federal penitentiaries were HIV positive or AIDS patients, and an estimated 176 state and 27 federal prisoners died from AIDS-related causes. For example, a September 20, 2007 article in the Los Angeles Times reported that 426 cases of death were recorded in California prisons in 2006 as stemming from belated medical treatment. Eighteen of these deaths were considered "preventable" and 48 others as "possibly preventable." A 41-year-old diabetic patient, Rodolfo Ramos, died after having been left abandoned and covered in his own feces for one week. Prison officials did not provide him with medical treatment even though they were aware of his condition.

In at least 40 of the country’s 50 states, courts treat juveniles of 14 to 18 years old like adults. About 200,000 minors in the United States are subjected to trials in courts for adults, even though it has been demonstrated that this proceeding is wrong.

Juveniles in 13 juvenile detention centers in the United States suffer from high rates of sexual abuse, and an average of one out of every three incarcerated minors report being attacked.

Approximately 283,000 prisoners are mentally ill, four times the number of patients in psychiatric hospitals.

In U.S. state and federal prisons, 4.5% of prisoners have suffered one or more sexual attack, and 2.9% report having suffered incidents involving prison staff. In addition, 0.5% reported having been sexually assaulted both by other prisoners and by prison staff.

Physical, direct forms of brutal treatment and torture of prisoners are endemic to U.S. prisons. A British film released a few years ago, Torture: America’s Brutal Prisons, features footage from prison security cameras in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California, in which guards can be seen severely beating prisoners – even killing some – and using Taser guns and electric prods, attack dogs, chemical sprays and dangerous paralyzing devices.

However, the most harmful effect of this prolonged isolation is that the mental abuse of prisoners affects them alarmingly. Many prisoners go crazy (if they weren’t already mentally ill), or commit suicide, as a result of this inhuman punishment. They are in restricted segregated units, and many of them are also in isolation – but the government does not release that information. The majority of prisoners in the United States who are in isolation have been so for more than five years.

Translated by Granma International

granma.cu

Bahamas Blog International

Creation of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States: a historically significant event

• States Raúl, addressing the Summit of Latin American and Caribbean Unity, which ended on Tuesday • Two declarations and eight special documents adopted, including a condemnation of the U.S. blockade of Cuba

Lazaro Barredo Medina

RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico.— The creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is a historically significant event, and we believe it appropriate to strive to promptly define its statutes and mode of functioning, so that they cover the collective interest in the greater integration and unity of our region, Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz said on Tuesday, Feb. 24, in addressing the Unity Summit’s final session.

Raúl’s speech was closely followed by those present in the large auditorium, and he made a number of points that were later referred to by other speakers.

The Summit ended on Tuesday after two declarations were approved: the Declaration of Cancun, and the Declaration of the Unity Summit, which establish the main programmatic commitments to political and economic coordination and cooperation. In addition, eight special documents were passed on: migratory cooperation; solidarity with Haiti; a declaration on the Malvinas issue, backing Argentina’s legitimate rights in its dispute with the UK; and a special communiqué, supporting Argentina’s demands regarding hydrocarbon exploration on the continental platform, in terms of the persistent unilateral British actions.

The summit also passed a declaration on Guatemala, congratulating that country for the outcome of investigations by the International Commission against Impunity, which cleared President Alvaro Colom of any responsibility for the death of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg in 2009.

Likewise, the meeting passed a resolution supporting the Ecuadorian initiative known as Yusuní-ITT, a voluntary gesture on the part of Ecuador not to exploit 846 million barrels of oil that lie under the subsoil of the Yasuní National Park, to benefit the environment and ensure the conservation "of one of the places of most biodiversity in the world." Another document expresses solidarity with Ecuador after the Financial Action Task Force included it, in a manipulative move, on the list of countries that have failed to adequately address money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Other resolutions include a condemnation of the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba.

In listing the underlying principles of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Mexican President Felipe Calderón said the new organization "should prioritize the advancement of regional integration with a view to promoting our sustainable development, advancing our regional agenda in global forums, and having a better position in response to relevant world events."

Likewise, he announced that in July 2011, in Caracas, Venezuela, the various government representatives are to define the guidelines of the new bloc, which is to comprise the Rio Group and the Latin American and Caribbean Summit. In 2012, they will meet again in Chile, the country that assumed the rotating presidency of the Rio Group for the next two years in a ceremony in which President Michelle Bachellet bid farewell to the other presidents and introduced her successor, Sebastián Piñera, who spoke briefly, reaffirming his commitment to take forward the summit’s agreements.

Outgoing Costa Rican President Oscar Arias also bid farewell to those present, with a speech whose tone was somewhat pessimistic regarding the new Latin American and Caribbean coordination organization. He also made contradictory statements which, using certain sophisms in defense of democracy, expressed potentially divisive opinions which focused conflicts evidently on nations that have put up the greatest ideological and political resistance in recent years.

On that, shortly afterward, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called upon his colleagues to always take an optimistic attitude: "There is no reason at all for us to be pessimists," he said.

The Brazilian president addressed a number of issues, and questioned the United Nations for its lack of decisiveness in relation Argentina’s sovereignty in its conflict with Britain over the Malvinas Islands, and he asked for a discussion of the role and composition of the Security Council, which, he said, represents the geopolitical interests of World War II, "and fails to take into account the changes that have happened in the world."

Another issue extensively addressed by Lula was the recent Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, where, Brazil, China and India stated their belief that "it is possible to find a new formula to reach an agreement."

"The rich countries like the United States and the European Union have to take into account the interests of Africa and Latin America in making decisions to mitigate global warming," he affirmed.

At the end of the session, the Cuban delegation remained for some time in the auditorium to attend to various heads of state and government, as well as other important figures, officials and delegation members who approached the Cubans to greet them, exchange opinions and take photos with Raúl. Almost the last to leave, Raúl and President Hugo Chávez walked away chatting like brothers, greeted by many people, including security personnel, journalists and hotel workers.

Translated by Granma International

February 24, 2010

granma.cu

Bahamas Blog International

Chavez considers regional integration urgent

HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez described on Monday in Cancun, Mexico, the need for the integration of Latin American and Caribbean peoples as urgent and a life or death issue.

We can’t think of surviving in a world affected by the crisis and the inordinate desires of the powerful, “unless we come together,” Chavez said at the Summit of the Latin America and the Caribbean Unity, attended among others by the Cuban delegation headed by President Raúl Castro.

After considering the present world as dangerous for poor and developing countries, Chavez noted that many scholars consider the current world situation marked by “the perfect crisis, because it concerns economics, finance, weather, food and many important aspects at once.”

He highlighted that 200 years after it was raised as an imperative by Simón Bolívar, the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean are meeting in Mexico with its sights set on the unity.

The Venezuelan president also dubbed the Organization of American States as “something obsolete and it serves no purpose and should no longer exist,” and added that the Mexico Summit can’t recognize the current Honduran government, as emanating from a coup.

He reiterated the support of Venezuela to Argentina for the recovery of the Malvinas Islands, while he underlined the need for the Cancun forum to speak with one voice in favor of that aspiration, which he described as legitimate.

February 23, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Watch this investment summit on Haiti

Concerns over two-day Miami event

Analysis by Rickey Singh


LAST week as the prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France were on separate visits to earthquake-ruined Haiti, there were concerns about a United States of America private sector-initiated "investment summit" in Miami next month that would focus on economic reconstruction in that Caribbean Community member state.

Scheduled for March 9-10, the organisers and sponsors claim to be working on "reconstruction principles" identified at last month's Montreal Conference on Haiti hosted by Prime Minister Harper.

However, Caricom, which participated in the Montreal Conference and which has been mandated by Haiti to function as its special advocate at international fora in relation to the country's post-earthquake reconstruction, received no invitation or official information about this upcoming summit.

At the time of writing two days ago, the indication given was that it was "most unlikely" that Caricom would have an official present at the scheduled investment summit.

Instead, the Community is immersed in preparations, in collaboration with the Haitian administration of President René Préval, for the United Nations Donors Conference on Haiti currently being organised for late next month in New York.

While the Miami investment summit will be focused on garnering private contracts with an eye on security-related development, the UN's upcoming conference on Haiti will reflect current concerns over "the scale and nature of the challenges we face not only on the relief side, but also the course for the recovery and development later on", according to Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes.

In contrast, promotion of the two-day investment summit being organised for next month has pointed to the benefits that could accrue to private corporations from private discussions.

Engaging in customary humanitarian rhetoric, the organisers of the summit - a number of whom are linked to some big names in private security operations, and not all with flattering credentials - state, for instance, on its promotion website (www.investmentsummits.com/haiti) the following:

"The summit benefits from a proven event model that includes plenary addresses on key areas with the opportunity for private discussions between attending companies and the various international delegations in attendance....

The Agenda


"The format is aimed at ensuring that attending companies have the opportunity to meet with leading stakeholders and demonstrate the important roles they have to play in the aid reconstruction and redevelopment of Haiti, essentially making for a mutually beneficial multilateral relation forum..."

For co-author of the book Capitalising on Catastrophe, Nandini Gunawardena (the other author is Mark Schuller), "the event seems to allow private corporations, in various disguises, to talk up international humanitarian agencies and convince them how they would be best placed to bring in various services and undertake reconstruction tasks, essentially to make no-bid contracts and deals (as in the past) which promise to wreak further disruption and disempowerment in the lives of Haitians..."

Linking last month's Montreal Conference on Haiti with the upcoming investment summit in Miami may be quite tactical on the part of the organisers. But are the objectives the same - to serve Haiti's best interest in its post-earthquake reconstruction?

Doubts, and even warnings, are already surfacing among those with reservations about sponsors like the security firm Sabre International, in conjunction with the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), described as a British "provider of business summits".

It is hoped that should Caricom governments and private sector representatives be among invited participants who turn up for this investment summit, they will be quite vigilant in honouring their own policies and mandates - in the best interest of Haiti and the wider Community.

In the meantime, as new human tragedies continue to plague Haitians - the latest being the collapse of a school from a mudslide that killed four children, amid warnings of further dislocation from expected heavy rains - varying estimates are emerging on the enormous scale of international aid required for reconstruction and redevelopment of Haiti.

France's "aid"


While the Montreal Conference on Haiti came up last month with a projected US$10-billion aid plan over five years, the Inter-American Development Bank, in its latest assessment, has declared that the level of economic assistance could require at least US$14 billion for what it has categorised as, proportionately, "the most destructive natural disaster of modern times".

During their respective visits to Haiti last week, Canadian Prime Minister Harper announced a US$555-million reconstruction aid package over five years, and France's President Sarkozy promised US$378 million in assistance.

That disclosure in Port-au-Prince prompted the Jamaica-born regional economist, Dr Norman Girvan, to juxtapose on his website that focuses on Caribbean political economy, Sarkozy's announced US$378-million aid with the estimated US$22 billion owed by France as compensation to Haiti for the demands made for recognition of Haiti's independence.

"The indemnity imposed by France," Girvan noted in a media statement to coincide with Sarkozy's visit to Haiti, "condemned the Haitian people to a cycle of indebtedness, environmental degradation and underdevelopment from which they have yet to recover.

"And if President Sarkozy were to make the restitution, in the name of all the decent people of the French republic, for this historic wrong, and support the efforts of the Haitian people to rebuild their shattered lives and economy, he would undoubtedly gain the respect of the entire world and be a prime candidate for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010..."

Sarkozy does not seem to be in such a courageous mood. Just think of the announced US$338-million aid from Haiti's former ruthless coloniser compared with the level of interest shown and financial help already committed by, for example, Canada.

February 21, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Dust from distant lands may affect climate, health in the Caribbean, say scientists

SAN DIEGO, USA -- Residents of the southern United States and the Caribbean have seen it many times during the summer months -- a whitish haze in the sky that seems to hang around for days. The resulting thin film of dust on their homes and cars actually is soil from the deserts of Africa, blown across the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, there is new evidence that similar dust storms in the arctic, possibly caused by receding glaciers, may be making similar deposits in northern Europe and North America, according to Joseph M Prospero from the University of Miami in a February 19 presentation to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“Our recent work in Iceland has shown that most of the dust events there are associated with dust emitted from glacial outwash deposits, which may be carried into the northern latitudes and into Europe by synoptic weather events,” says Prospero, professor of marine and atmospheric chemistry at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, in his talk “Intercontinental Dust Transport: The Linkage to Climate and its Environmental Impact.”

Satellite data have shown large dust plumes in the arctic, but persistent cloud cover has made finding the origins difficult. The glaciers have been retreating in Iceland for decades, and the trend is expected to continue with the changing climate. Prospero predicts that dust activity from the newly exposed glacial deposits will most likely increase in the future in Iceland and possibly from other glacial terrains in the Arctic.

Prospero’s lifelong work has been to measure the effects of airborne dust. Since 1965, he and his colleagues have been measuring dust particles in Barbados, West Indies, thus creating the longest dust measurement data set in science. They found that dust transport increased greatly during the late 1960s and early 1970s at the same time as a severe drought in Northern Africa.

“The first 30 years of the dust record showed a strong relationship between dust transport across the ocean to rainfall amounts in the Sahel and Soudan regions of Africa,” says Prospero. “It’s important to note that the level of dust transport is not necessarily related directly to rainfall but possibly to other climate factors associated with the variability of rainfall.”

Some of the most intense periods dust transport are associated with strong El Niño events, which may affect such factors as wind speeds and variability as well as rainfall—the same factors that affect dust mobilization and transport. However, since the late 1990s, the pattern of drought and dust transport has been disrupted -- dust transport rates were actually greater than what Prospero’s earlier model would indicate.

“We still have work to do to understand the fundamental processes and relationship between climate, rainfall, and dust transport,” says Prospero. “Predicting the long-term effects of climate and dust transport is exacerbated by the fact that many of the climate prediction models for lower latitude Africa are not consistent.”

Also needing more study is whether the dust particles pose any health threat to the people below. More than half of the particles in the dust mass transported over the Atlantic to the Americas is smaller than 2.5 microns, defined as “respirable particles” by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Over the Caribbean region, the atmospheric concentration of fine dust particles frequently is within the range of and sometimes exceeds the US EPA’s standards for respirable particles.

“Although to date there is no strong evidence that African dust constitutes a health hazard, this possible impact would seem to warrant study especially since some climate change projections show increased dust transport in the future,” concludes Prospero.

Prospero is a panelist in a symposium called “Dust in the Earth System,” which will examine dust and its effects in the Earth system while considering societal impact at the local and global levels by exchanging information, ideas, and perspectives across diverse disciplines.

February 20, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International