Climate Change and the Earthquake in Haiti

Climate change is one of the most crucial global problems of our century and when we discuss about the climate, we're most likely to touch on wider implications such as natural disasters.

Two scientists from Purdue University took seismic readings in Haiti along the Enriquillo Fault and warned Haitian officials back in 2008 that the island was vulnerable to a major earthquake of 7.2 magnitude. Pressure was building along the fault line. The problem is the warning didn’t come with a timeline and even if it did, a country like Haiti was highly unlikely to be able to move and coordinate fast enough to shore up important buildings like government, hospitals, and schools. So… nothing was done.

Tuesday’s earthquake is actually the fifteenth natural disaster to hit the island nation since 2001. Other equally devastating events in Haiti include major floods due to the deforestation, and killer tropical storms and hurricanes. Although all of these events are due to natural causes the events that cause Haiti to be in a constant state of catastrophe are the poor building standards, poverty, unstable government and environmental degradation.

This latest devastating event is a wake-up call to us to pay attention to our environment from the smallest to the most significant of ways. It may not stop other natural disasters from occurring completely but it may lessen the rate and magnitude of disasters. Haiti is one of the many Islands that does not have adequate necessities needed to defend themselves during extreme weather events and disasters such as the earthquake that hit last Tuesday.

Actor, Danny Glover was quoted as saying, “I hope we seize this particular moment because the threat of what happened to Haiti is the threat that could happen anywhere in the Caribbean to these island nations, you know. They're all in peril because of global warming, they're all in peril because of climate change. An interesting viewpoint until he went on to say that the devestation was caused in Haiti because the world’s governments did not finish what they needed to in Copenhagen during the Climate Confernce in December. That is where he lost me.

There really has not been a link established between climate change and Tuesday’s earthquake. One thing that we do know is that the burning of fossil fuels is altering the climate, which in turn, increases the likelihood that more natural disasters will occur, and may lead to reconstruction or relocation of entire cities if the climate change predictions from scientists are to be believed.

Hopefully we will begin to listen to the majority of scientists worldwide that for climate change is real and we need to address it now. Haitian officials were concerned about the possibility of an earthquake but with so many other problems the warnings of even more disastrous events that may or may not happen soon were put on the back burner. Sound familiar?


Lisa Emery, B.A. is currently living in Amherst. Lisa invites comments to her column. You can contact Lisa at: emeryvine@gmail.com or view her blog at http://emeryvinegrapevine.blogspot.com