A study conducted by Cuban scientists has found rising sea levels in Cuba could displace as many as 41,300 people over the next 30 years. The scientists studied data collected from Cuba’s meteorological coastal stations and the database on tropical cyclones of the US National Hurricane Center, among others, calculating how far the sea would advance in the event of flooding caused by strong winds in four coastal settlements: Punta Alegre, Playa La Herradura, Gibara and Baracoa.

Lying right in the path of Caribbean hurricanes with hundreds of kilometers of low-lying coastal populations, Cuba regards itself at greater risk to climate change. After Hurricane Irma devastated parts of Cuba in 2018, Cuba found renewed commitment to implement a long-discussed 100-year plan known as Tarea Vida or project life to protect itself from climate change but a lack of investment in the plan is then showed how little progress had been made. 

The project is designed with the intent to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities and bans construction of new homes in threatened coastal areas, relocates populations deemed to be living in risky sea-level rise areas, plans to overhaul the agricultural system away from saltwater-contaminated areas, shore up coastal defenses and restore degraded habitats. 

After Hurricane Irma, 40 families in Palmarito - the first population relocations inland - took place in October 2017. While other communities may not need to be moved for some time to come, after Irma, Cuba embarked on a coastal community education campaign on climate change, which many having lived through, understood firsthand. (On Cuba News & Science Mag)