By: Spokesman Newsroom

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 15th August 2024)-As the 2024 hurricane season progresses, former government minister and well-known social commentator Dwyer Astaphan is calling for greater global environmental responsibility to lessen the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes. 

In his latest commentary of Wednesday 14th August 2024, Astaphan stressed the importance of environmental stewardship as a form of prevention, urging people to recognize the role that human activities play in worsening natural disasters.

 “We’re still over 100 days left in the season. We’re just in the middle of August…haven’t even reached the peak, which is September. These storms are called acts of God, and they are, but there is no question that human beings have been and are contributing to global warming through three of our greatest curses,” Astaphan stated. 

He identified these curses as greed, ignorance, and selfishness, highlighting how they drive environmental degradation.

Astaphan warned that global warming is leading to more severe weather patterns, including more powerful hurricanes. “Global warming means that the polar ice caps will melt. Weather and climates will change. The elements of nature in which we live and other species live, thousands upon thousands of which have already been made extinct because of human interference, will be thrown into imbalance,” he explained. 

He emphasized that warmer oceans act as “steroids for hurricanes,” leading to an increase in the number and severity of these natural disasters. He lamented the fact that, despite being the most intelligent creatures on the planet, humans are also the most destructive. “We are too greedy, too selfish, too ignorant, and too foolish,” he remarked.

Astaphan also pointed to the historical impact of the Industrial Revolution, noting that while it brought economic progress, it also set the stage for large-scale environmental damage. 

“The bulk of the blame for global warming, at least from the human perspective, must go to countries and societies whose powerful players, aided and abetted by controlled and corrupt leaders, began in a major way to pollute the land, sea, and air of the planet when the Industrial Revolution started about 250 years ago,” he noted.

He urged residents of St. Kitts and Nevis, and people worldwide, to engage in better environmental practices, not just for themselves, but for future generations. 

 “Are we prepared for the rest of 2024 and beyond? While it is good to be prepared for the hurricane, you have your medication, your water and so forth. It is even better to engage in prevention in the form of good environmental practices. We have to do our share of the work, small as we are on the planet, because everybody has to do his or her part, whether you’re small or large. All of us have a responsibility to leave a better place for our children than the one we found from our fathers and mothers,” Astaphan expressed, stressing the importance of collective action to preserve the planet.