CHALSEY ANTHONY

Home to over 44 million people, the Caribbean is among the top travel destinations in the world. With its lush, inviting beaches, vast intricacies of flavourful food, rich, vibrant culture, and citizens, millions of people visit yearly.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, an estimated 58.8 million people visited the region in 2019. Despite boasting a paradise appeal, the region faces some of the most severe environmental and socio-economic issues, challenging the very survival of its countries and people.

The greenhouse gases released when burning fossil fuel contributes to air pollution and is one of the biggest drivers of climate change. National Geographic notes, “This creates a cycle where air pollution contributes to climate change and climate change creates higher temperatures in turn higher temperatures intensify some types of air pollution.” These conditions continue to influence the quality of the social and environmental factors that contribute to our health. Thus, citizens in the Caribbean face compounded issues challenging our health and well-being – the food and water we need to live, the security of our shelter, and even the air we breathe.

Four women from different fields relate their experience of living in the Caribbean and coping with the health implications of air pollution. Human activities, such as the burning of landfills and domestic waste, release toxic and harmful gases into the atmosphere which can enter our lungs and bloodstream and increase our risk of heart diseases, respiratory diseases, and lung cancer.

[caption id="attachment_969205" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Drivers heading in to Port of Spain are forced to drive through thick smoke caused by the Beetham dump earlier this year. - AYANNA KINSALE[/caption]

Paulette Palmer is a registered nurse and midwife who lives near a garbage landfill that on occasion ignites. “It just messes up the atmosphere and it’s not only for those that are close to it. The fumes can spread far and wide. And the irritation to your eyes and your respiratory system, especially for those people like me who have sinus problems, it’s not nice.” She recounts “years ago, one of my sisters used to live much closer to the Riverton side. She had to move because it was causing her sinus too, giving her dizzy spells and making her sick simply because of the fumes and her inhalation of it.”

For many, those sentiments are true and all too real. Abigail Jones is the founder of a Caribbean Diaspora Business – Nostalgic Islander living in Jamaica.

She said, “I live in an area where many of my neighbours burn their litter and household garbage so that instantly affects me.” As Jones ponders the gripping effects this has posed on her health, she continues to shed light on an even closer and personal ordeal.

“My grandmother and her neighbours are also affected by burning and smog because they live pretty close to the landfill. Whenever they burn, she gets all the smoke and it’s such a