The following is a post I wrote for our local blog SXM Private Eye

Before you click to read more, I want to warn you that the subject I plan to address is ultra depressing, highly complex and so overwhelming that most people try not to think about it. Ignore this post if you are unable to face the reality of the world we live in and the future ahead.

Click here to Read More
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A couple of nights ago I spent the evening with some friends, it had been a while since we had time together and it really was a great evening catching up, with great food, wine and company. We talked about many things, events on the island, people we know, life in general and the atmosphere was warm and relaxed. At least up until the moment I mentioned Global Warming.

I don't recall exactly why I mentioned it, there was a connection to whatever was being discussed just moments before, but in the silence and cloud that hung over the table afterwards I lost it. My friends are not really tuned into the news and world events as many of those that write here, they may get a little CNN now and then, occasionally read a Daily Herald, but they are more inclined towards People magazine and similar publications and tv shows.

I mentioned that Al Gore had recently been appointed as an advisor to the UK Government Environment Minister, from there I also had to explain that a new report had been published stating that confronting Global Warming would cost 1% of global GDP compared with 20% or more if we just try to adapt to it. When they say more they mean to the point of our planet being habitable for human life. The UK Government appears to be fully behind this report and are now currently debating and planning massive and radical new laws, taxes and policies to confront it.

Channel 4 Special Report Video - 31st October 2006

British Government Report Calls for Broad Effort on Climate Issues - 30th October 2006

(Links to more news stories can be found in the Global Warming / Global Resources Thread.)

As I was talking I could feel the change fall over the group, like the lights had been dimmed, they really didn't know much of what I was talking about and I stopped talking about it because it was depressing, just like Debbie Downer in the SNL video. After a few moments the cloud passed, conversation was started on a new less depressing subject and the warm fuzzy feeling returned, though not quite the same as before, at least not for me. As someone who believes Global Warming is a reality, being reminded of how little chance we have of averting it is a double downer.

I called this post 'Don't Worry, Be Happy" because that is what most people choose to do, it's not something they feel they can do anything about, the problems are just too big and complex for most people to grasp. The politicians will deal with it, or someone will, meanwhile the rent needs to be paid, work is piling up and the kids need dinner. And it's so damn depressing!!

There is no argument from me there, it is very depressing and it gets worse the more you know. For that reason I am going to give you all another chance to choose to stop reading now.

Click here for something Happy!

Unfortunately, if we don't worry, if we continue to keep our eyes and minds shut to the radical and drasitc changes we must all make in everyday life then our problems will be double, probably much much worse than double.

The Tipping Point

The debate about Global Warming is over, it has passed beyond acceptance in every major scientific community to a stage where the discussion is about the effects it will have. As the years tick by, the evidence becomes more solid and the conclusions drawn from it become narrower, to put it mildly, it's really really not looking good.

A central part of the new debates is 'The Tipping Point', an event or series of events that would set off chain reactions across our planet's weather and tidal systems, causing irreversable and catastophic economic, social and environmenal breakdown world wide. The same scientists that have been warning of Global Warning the last 10-15 years are the same ones telling us that we really don't have that long left, that in fact it may already be too late to do anything about it.

One event that may cause this "Tipping Point' is the possible breakdown of the North Atlantic Drift Ocean currents, of which the Gulf Stream is just one part. These ocean currents, which in turn power and interact with other currents around the World, have been showing ominous signs of stalling, which may in turn lead the planet into a period of rapid climate change similar to the Dansgaard-Oeschger events or the Younger-Dryas period of 12,000 years ago.

Some Global Warming critics argue that the changes we see are all just part of a natural rhythm and cycle which the planet has been through before, and they may well be right. But by acknowledging that the planet has experienced these rapid climate change periods they do infact underscore the importance of the issue and the need to listen to the scientists that study it. There may be disagreement on the causes of these changes, but it does not change the evidence that leans very heavily on the side that they are happening.

A second event which may cause the climate to go over the tipping point is the melting of the permafrost in Alaska, Canada and Russia. Much of the land in those regions is made up of frozen vegetation, vast peat bogs, heathland and marsh, some of it frozen since 12,000 years ago and the last rapid climate change period of the planet's history. As this defrosts it rots and produces methane, the latest report showing that current levels are 5 times the amount previously estimated.

I told you it was depressing and I know that many people at this point will be thinking it's time to go and read something else. I've only touched on two issues and have yet to discuss how both these events, combined with our contnued burning of fossil fuels, the glaciers melting and the sea level rising will lead to vast populated areas suffering water shortages or flooding plus extreme changes to weather patterns such as temperatures, hurricanes, typhoons and monsoons. The list of knock on effects and further signs of big problems ahead goes on and on.

'Only 50 years left' for sea fish - 2nd November 2006

Dire prediction for world's coral reefs - 25 years left - 25th October 2006

Report: Humans stripping away planet's resources - 24th October 2006

'Progress and Growth' have been the guiding words for the past century, the measure of a Country's prosperity and success is measured by GDP. Every company or corporation wants to grow, everybody wants to get richer, own more, have more. We are now faced with the reality that the planet is only so big and that growth is not sustainable in the manner we do so now.

Hitting Home

The map above is an approximate indication of the land that would most likely be at risk with a 5 meter sea level rise. As you can see, Philipsburg, Cole Bay and Simpson Bay are gone, our new airport could, with some adjustments and dredging, become our new port. I haven't even looked at the French side, Marigot, Grand Case and French Quarter are all at risk, which would also include Belvedere.

As DBPrincess mentioned in her wonderful satire on Roy Marlin's planning policies, we may eventually need to chop the top off our hills, to build sea defences. And should I mention Tourism? Will we have any beaches? Where will the airport be? Will people still be flying as they are now? It's big and it's depressing to think about, it's so much easier to push it out of our minds, to worry about it another day, when we have no choice left. When it's too late.

St. Maarten is a macro of the situation that confronts the World, we are running out of space, our environment is degrading, we are wasteful and irresponsible with our energy use. Walk along Front Street and feel the airconditioning blasting out of the open doors into the street, look at the harbor and airport lit up everynight whilst not in use, more and more streetlights.

Roy Marlin and this current government have plans to buy a new heavy oil generator for GEBE next year, one can seriously wonder if they have heard of Global Warming or do they just think that it's someone else's problem. Do they not project that feeling of helplessness onto the population too? It is true that most people think they are too small to make any difference. This is not leadership, it is not the leadership that St. Maarten is going to need in the future that is rapidly getting closer. It can only be ignorance or cowardice.

Radical changes are needed in the way we live, in the civilization that we have built.

The party is over folks!

The problem is, most people just don't want to accept the good times are ending. From here on we are going to have to learn to live responsibly, or not.

For St Maarten the following program needs to be enacted.

An immediate environmental tax of 1% added to all imported goods and materials. This is would be for a transparent fund which would be used for some of the policies below and to prepare the island as best it can for Global Warming.

Immediate halt to major development and legistlation on non resident ownership and use of land. This means a complete halt on immigration and eventually a gradual repatriation of workers who have reached the limits of their permits. Local residents must be trained and paid a livable salary to fill those positions.

GEBE should be instructed to reduce dependance on heavy oil and to invest in clean energy, solar, wind and geothermal (Saba and Statia.) A program will be put in place to turn businesses and homes energy independant, through use of fuel cells, solar and wind power and energy saving devices.

A massive public education program should be carried out to raise the awareness and importance of energy conservation and waste reduction. Tough legistlation and guidelines will have to be enacted and enforced.

Sadly for car showrooms and their owners, importation will have to be strongly curbed and favored towards clean and hybrid vehicals. Gas and Diesel should be phased out over the next 10 years. An efficient PUBLIC transport system utilizing trams, clean buses and perhaps even an electric monorail should be established. Bicycle and Segway lanes should be created.

Imports should be taxed according to the distance they travel, in particular produce. The cost of buying Californian lettuce or tomatos may be affordable to you, but it is not affordable to the planet. It creates local jobs and it helps the island to become more self sufficient.

And those are some of the reasons I would never get elected!

For those needing a lift. please go and watch this SNL video of Debbie Downer before YouTube removes it for copywrite infringement. It has some relevance to this blog post and is also very funny.

Remember though, Global Warming is not going to go away.

Caribdude

P.S - I haven't been writing on here much, but you will be seeing more of me in the future, reminding you of it's progress.