A green alert in the middle of the hurricane season (+audio).

The arrival of June 5th does not go unnoticed on the international agenda: World Environment Day once again calls on governments, institutions and citizens to become aware of the state of our Casa Grande.

The arrival of June 5th does not go unnoticed on the international agenda: World Environment Day once again calls on governments, institutions and citizens to become aware of the state of our Big House.

Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, this day has become the largest global event to raise environmental awareness. In the Cuban case, the commemoration takes on a particularly urgent nuance, as it coincides with the dawn of the hurricane season, a period marked, to a large extent, by the threat of hurricanes.

Global warming, driven by human activity and the intensive use of fossil fuels, has altered atmospheric and oceanic conditions on a worrying scale. The waters of the tropical Atlantic are warming earlier and earlier, increasing the likelihood of more intense and destructive storms.

For an island country like Cuba, where geography multiplies exposure to risk, the link between environment and survival is tangible, immediate and permanent.

Intense rainfall, sea level rise and coastal erosion are not future threats: they are current realities that impact agriculture, water supply, energy infrastructure and food security. In this regard, the preventive approach that has characterized Cuba’s response to hurricanes and other meteorological phenomena, internationally recognized for its early warning and evacuation systems, must be complemented by the implementation of bolder and more coordinated policies that integrate science, technology and community participation to address environmental deterioration and the onslaught of climate change.

Despite the difficulties, the Greater Antilles has taken significant steps in this direction. Initiatives such as Tarea Vida, promoted on the island since 2017, promote climate adaptation criteria in territorial planning, ecosystem recovery and the protection of vulnerable areas. On the subject, Iris Victoria Bolaños Dreke, chief specialist of the Environment in the Yumurino municipality of Pedro Betancourt, referred:

…ONLINE AUDIO.

World Environment Day cannot be reduced to a commemorative date. At the start of the hurricane season, it is a warning and, at the same time, a road map. The protection of the environment is not a luxury for good times, but a basic condition for survival, a challenge that, prepared and alert, we will know how to face.

Written by Yadiel Barbón.