Haiti - Environment : Towards a disaster announced...
According to reports by several international experts, climate change is expected to result in more than 50% reduction in rainfall in the coming years and an increase in average temperatures.
According to Haitian engineer Claude Prépetit, Coordinator of the Technical Unit of Seismology, Bureau of Mines and Energy, summer temperatures in Haiti by the end of the century could average 34-35 degrees.
The considerable decrease in rainfall combined with the increase in temperature will cause a significant reduction in agricultural production. Moreover, due to more difficult access to drinking water, there will be an increase in climatic-sensitive diseases (dengue fever, malaria, typhoid fever) and a significant reduction in biodiversity.
Claude Prépetit indicates that for the West Department and Port-au-Prince in particular, the threat against the risk of flooding, drought, erosion, landslide, tsunami and earthquake is at a high level or to a high level, recalling that according to the global risk index, Haiti is among the top 15 countries predisposed to natural disasters.
Faced with these threats, the engineer Prépetit advises the authorities concerned to "think globally and act locally". In particular, the Committee recommends that the Government seek solutions to the causes, including limiting population growth. According to him, it is also necessary to create energy forests, promote renewable energies, manage and recycle waste, monitor quarry operations and manage watersheds in a rational way, particularly in water management, before it is not too late.
