Is it hot or is it just you? Standing in the sun even if for a short while, you begin to feel your skin roasting, perspiration soaks your clothes (not a good look) and as you slowly cook, you think that it feels hotter than ever. Is this global warming coming to toast our already warm shores, or is this just like every other year, and it just seems hotter?

According to 'World Climate' the 24 hour average temperature for Jamaica between 1852 and 1991 is 82.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Likewise, Jacqueline Spence, applied meteorologist at the Climate Branch of the Meteorological Office, states that the average temperature in Kingston is 28 degrees Celsius, 27 degrees in Montego Bay. Based on this, it is no wonder that 93 degrees in the shade seems unusually hot.

But it is hard to be objective about the temperature when you are sweating and miserable, so I decided to investigate the truth to our 'warming' from the constant climate of my computer.

The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners has a collection of Jamaican Weather Reports from as far back as 1880 when, for example, the temperature for this month in that year was recorded as a maximum 90.6 F and a low of 72.2 F.

According to data from Ms. Spence, the average temperature for each of the years from 1992 to 2006 has been 28 degrees Celsius, the average temperature from 1951 to 1980 was also 28 degrees. No dramatic changes there.

I looked further, investigating each decade beginning with June 1917 and noted the high and low temperature. In June 1917 the hottest it got was 94.2F while the low was 70.6F. June 1927, 1937,1947, 1957, 1967 reported similar highs in the 90s and lows in the 70s. June 1997 reported a high of 93F but the noticeable difference is that the recorded low was 82 degrees, almost ten degrees higher than previous decades.

Factors

Perhaps other factors have made it seem hotter, fewer trees, more hustle, and more stress. Spending more time in the air-conditioning makes it seem much hotter when we do get outside, and on the other hand, perhaps even back in the 1880s people were commenting that this year it seemed hotter than ever.

Global warming does, however, seem to be inching away at our shores. The Met Office's website has a report on Coastal Vulnerability by David A.Y. Smith, 'Based on UN-IPCC observations, rates of sea level rise in the Caribbean will be 5mm (per year) for the next 100 years. This rate is two times higher than the past 100 years.'

The report suggests that our low-lying beaches and plains are most vulnerable to storm events as a result of this rise. It also notes that 28 per cent of the Jamaican population and critical infrastructure is concentrated near the coastline, including, of course, our economy's lifeblood, the tourism sector.

New Orleans was a stark reminder of the powers of a storm surge. However, it seems with our rising sea levels we, too, are at risk, especially as one thing is for certain, there are more storms these days. So it seems that we have a choice: head to the hills where according to over 200 years of weather reports, it is considerably cooler (as is Montego Bay), and based on the 5mm/year rise in the sea level you have a fair amount of time before a storm surge beats down your walls. Or we can, like the rest of the world, take a good look at global warming and its effects.

Jamaica has a vote at the United Nations, and has before taken a stand on international issues such as apartheid, so with much of our own population and our major industry at risk, perhaps we need to address the subject of global warming and the environment and heat things up just a bit!