Science & Nature
Local heat records broken as the mercury rises
(CNS): Despite being the land of soft, fresh breezes, the Cayman Islands did not escape the global heatwave last month. According to the National Weather Service, 21 July recorded a new high temperature for the islands of 95.5°F (35.3°C) on Grand Cayman. But on 13 out of the month’s 31 days, the mercury climbed past […]
Sea temperatures put local coral at more risk
(CNS): The record-breaking local sea temperatures this summer have already gone beyond the threshold that coral reefs can comfortably tolerate, more than a month ahead of the expected seasonal peak. Department of Environment (DoE) Deputy Director Tim Austin, a marine scientist, has said this is causing real concerns. The DoE has been monitoring the marine […]
NRA clears mangroves without approval
(CNS): The National Roads Authority has said the removal of mangroves without prior approval, just days after Cayman marked World Mangrove Day, was a “misunderstanding”. The NRA said it was cleaning culverts, not clearing mangroves, at a site in West Bay, but it appears that some were removed. Now local activists are angry that, despite […]
UN chief warns of new ‘era of global boiling’
(CNS): Scientists are already certain that July will be the hottest month on record and might be the hottest month for more than 120,000 years. “We don’t have to wait for the end of the month to know this. Short of a mini-ice age over the next days, July 2023 will shatter records across the […]
Cayman has room for full rollout of renewables
(CNS): The suggestion that Cayman doesn’t have room to accommodate enough solar panels or wind turbines to generate all of its power from renewables has been debunked in the government’s new draft National Energy Policy. The revised policy, which is even more ambitious than the last one, has a target of generating 100% of our […]
Local bullfinch gets ‘Cayman status’
(CNS): The Grand Cayman bullfinch has been reclassified as a separate species, Melopyrrha taylori, having previously been considered a subspecies of a monotypic West Indian genus. As of this month, the American Ornithological Society now recognises the Cayman bullfinch and the Cuban bullfinch (Melopyrrha nigra) as two endemic species. The decision was a belated response […]
Cayman’s last chance saloon
Theresa Green writes: As we all melt into Cayman’s ever-advancing concrete this summer, gasp at the soaring mercury around the world, watch opened-mouthed at the wildfires burning out of control and the floods wreaking havoc, only the most stupid or stubborn among us doubt that humans are in a whole lot of trouble. But it […]
Mangrove conservation more critical than ever
(CNS): Month after month, wetlands are being lost across Grand Cayman paving the way for more and more development, despite the obvious and pressing need to stop removing them and, where possible, to start to replenish what has been lost. Though they were often seen in the past simply as a mosquito-breeding swamp, there is […]
Draft energy policy review to go to public
(CNS): More than six years after the National Energy Policy was first published, Cabinet has approved the publication of a draft updated policy and the rollout of a 30-day public consultation period. The policy, which is expected to be posted online in the coming days, covers Cayman’s energy needs and how they will be achieved […]
Climate Clock ticks down on ‘Keeping 1.5°C Alive’
(CNS): On 22 July, the Climate Clock will tick down below the six-year mark for humanity to drastically reduce fossil fuel emissions to keep global warming below 1.5ºC, despite a pledge made by governments at COP26 in 2021 to ‘Keep 1.5°C Alive‘. This weekend, people across the world will mark this moment with synchronized action […]
WMO: July opens with hottest week on record
(CNS): Preliminary data from the World Meteorological Organization shows that the first week of July was the hottest week since records began in 1850, as the global warming that scientists have warned about for decades pushed up temperatures all over the world, even in Antarctica, which, despite being in the middle of winter, is seeing […]
