Dear Editor,
Thirteen years ago I wrote a letter entitled “We Must Take Global Warming into Account in Planning Our Future.” I simply repeated what science had clearly warned about in the near future. A recent report by NASA scientists predicted that, “….coastlines will face increasing flooding in the mid-2030s thanks to a regular lunar cycle that will magnify rising sea levels caused by climate change….This cycle takes 18.6 years to complete.” It adds that “The prediction pushes previous estimates forward by about 70 years” and suggests that “It’s critical information for planners.” If this is true, then coastlines below sea-level such as ours will be hardest hit, and “more frequent, and more severe,” with some changes becoming “irreversible.”
So as we continue our blind, aggressive drive for yet more fossil fuels, and to justify this decision by saying that the carbon sink provided by Guyana’s forests exceeds the effect of carbon emissions from our oil finds, we seem either totally oblivious or totally indifferent to the impending catastrophe that might await our country. Talk about starting a new town on the Linden highway is not nearly enough. We must immediately consider relocating the capital. And we must start making plans for possible evacuation of flooded areas, and for construction of emergency shelters outside the flood zone. Time is running out.
Sincerely,
Clairmont Lye
