Heat has become ‘too hot to handle’ for the Caribbean⁠—climate experts

The Caribbean may no longer be a comfortable place to live in due to extreme heat, a report has revealed, and a group of experts in the region has sounded alarm over the evidence that is already “glaring.”

In an official statement, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre has underscored the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that showed how the heat has “become too hot for the Caribbean to handle.” And yet, making people see the impact has been a challenge because “the Caribbean is synonymous to ‘soaking up the sun, sand and sea’,” the group said.

For active young people, the heat has made it almost impossible to enjoy outdoor activities.

A UNICEF Advocate from Trinidad and Tobago, 15-year-old Priyanka Lalla, shared that one of her classmates suffered a heat stroke and fainted during a football game. “It hadn’t even been an hour, but the heat was so excruciating,” Lalla said.

“You’re not even aware that your body is dehydrated and overheated until you literally just fall flat from heat stress, cramp or exhaustion,” said Antonio Hegar, an epidemiologist at the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Belize.

“Even if you’re a supposedly young and healthy person or live in an area accustomed to high temperatures, it’s going to be getting so hot that even those people would not be able to stand it and live there anymore. That gives you an idea of just how serious the problem is,” Hegar added.

According to the IPCC report, small islands and least developed countries are expected to be at the front seat of high multiple interrelated climate risks.

“For now, Caribbean citizens are forced to adopt various mechanisms to safeguard their health from these potentially life-threatening impacts of a warming climate and often opting for alternative cooling methods is necessary,” the climate group stated.