Cuba Suffers Through The Worst Drought Of ‘The Last Century’

With the year-long drought in Cuba forecast to worsen in the coming months, some residents are harboring what may seem like an unusual hope. “It is hard to believe, but many of us are hoping for a hurricane,” Nuris Lopez, a hairdresser in Granma province, told Reuters earlier this month. “I might lose my roof, but at least I could clean my house.” Lopez is one of more than 1 million people in Cuba who are currently relying on trucked-in water to survive. Reuters says one in 10 residents in the Caribbean country have been depending on government tank trucks to make do during a record hot summer. Last Monday, Cuba reportedly put its civil defense system on alert due the continuing drought that has already depleted the country's reservoirs and destroyed thousands of acres of crops including coffee, rice, sugar cane and tobacco.   “Reservoirs are well below capacity and underground water sources are falling as compared to previous months,” the civil defense system stated. Cuban journalist Elaine Diaz wrote Wednesday that the drought, which has been caused by the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, was the worst to hit the Caribbean country “in the last century.” With the rainy season expected to bring lower-than-average rainfall this year, experts say the drought will likely worsen in the coming months.  The Cuban government said emergency measures are already being “taken at all levels, including str...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news