By Norma Cherry-Fevrier
Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs, Planning and Social Security
Global warming can be defined as an increase in the average temperature on the earth due to the greenhouse gas effect, which causes changes in climate. Recent warming of the earth is a cause for concern since temperature changes are accelerating (London, 2004). Based on NASA GISS surface temperature readings, the eighteen warmest years on record from the time when consistent recording began in 1880, have occurred since 1980, with eleven of those years occurring from 1990 (See Figure 1.0). In light of this, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the smallest emitters of greenhouse gases are among the areas most significantly impacted by accelerated global warming (London, 2004). Additionally, according to NASA , the year 2011 was the ninth warmest year on record, with an average global temperature of 0.92 degrees F (0.51 C), warmer than the mid-20th century baseline. In essence, these facts illustrate a long-term trend of increases in global temperature.
By Dr. Deryck D. pattron, Ph.D.
Senior lecturer & public health Consultant
By Magella Moreau and Skye Hernandez
The Green Light Network - Plastikeep
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Imagine an island in the North Pacific Ocean, larger than the United States’ state of Texas, whose geological composition is plastic waste. The “island” is, in fact real and its existence highlights one of the major problems of the 21st century – plastic and our dependence on it, its toxicity to animals and humans and our inability to get rid of it in an environmentally sustainable way.
The “island” (not a solid mass, but a geographical location) is in the North Pacific sub-tropical gyre, which covers a huge area in the Pacific near Hawaii, where the water circulates clockwise in a slow spiral. Plastic is brought there by the currents of the world’s oceans, and it stays there, choked with dead fish, marine mammals and snared birds. Some plastics in the gyre will not break down in the lifetime of the grandchildren of the people who threw them away. As a result of this large amount of plastic, the gyre has been dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or the Pacific Trash Vortex.