UPDATED: NASA images show urban growth in New Providence

As of Wednesday, March 18, 2015

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

URBAN growth in New Providence has been highlighted in a photo gallery on global climate change by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NASA, the American space agency, has exhibited images of the island taken the year of the country’s independence and 33 years later in 2006.

The Images of Change gallery, according to NASA, features images that show change over varied time periods documenting the effects related to climate change, urbanisation, or natural disaster.

NASA explained that the island’s population, and capital city Nassau, had grown from a mere 8,000 in 1844 to more than 220,000 in 2015. Paired with the high volume of tourists, the agency said the increase has stressed the city’s sanitation systems.

The caption continued: “Deforestation of mangrove swamps to build infrastructure for tourists has made the island more vulnerable to storms. In the 2006 image, Nassau appears as a denser and more extensive urban centre compared to the 1973 image, and the coasts show more construction, especially in the northwest section of the image.”

The images are dated December 15, 1973 and September 19, 2006.

Speaking at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York City in September, Prime Minister Perry Christie urged developed nations to honour their commitment to pay $100 billion a year by 2020 for climate finance support as he outlined the Bahamas’ vulnerability to climate change.

Mr Christie said because of this country’s vulnerability to climate change “we qualify for funding and expect our fair share.”

He added that despite the government’s best efforts, emissions into the atmosphere continue to grow and threaten “the very existence of the Bahamas”.

In January, the government and the Inter-American Development Bank launched feasibility studies towards the implementation of a programme that will seek to protect the country’s coastline and coastal infrastructure from the impacts of climate change and natural disasters.

According to officials, various international studies, including some carried out by the IDB, showed that hurricanes and tropical storms were affecting the islands of the Bahamas more frequently as a result of climate variability and climate change.

Officials said those studies also suggested that the impact of rising sea levels would also be potentially catastrophic for the Bahamas, along with man-made threats such as pollution and coastal development.

ThisIsOurs 9 years, 8 months ago

"Stressed the city's sanitation systems"????

The dump?

Cobalt 9 years, 8 months ago

No..... what they are really saying in an indirect way is that Nassau is a dump!

NASA's just using the term "stress the city's sanitation system" as a euphemism because they're attempting to maintain an atmosphere of diplomacy and don't want to publicly insult us.

Their explanation is nothing more than a substitute for the harsh reality that Nassau is a filthy third-world shit hole reservoir!

ThisIsOurs 9 years, 8 months ago

Wow...and they can tell all that from space?:)

Cobalt 9 years, 8 months ago

Not only just from space...... but you have to remember that millions of visitors travel thru Nassau every year. Many complain about the congestion and filth that is prevalent in Nassau. They come expecting an island paradise, only to find decadent, dirty, stagnant pool of filth, coupled by rude and offensive people.

Have you ever walk around downtown and taken a deep breath???? You don't need a satellite orbiting the earth to know that Nassau is a dump.

darius 9 years, 8 months ago

I can see why people would move there. It's a nice place with a lot of beautiful sights and lots of nature. I'm sure it's a good place to live. http://cosuricadou.yolasite.com/">Andrei

John 9 years, 8 months ago

All the green spaces just about gone. The dump on fire consuming whatever clean air there is and you want to know why everyone gone crazy and killing up each other

John 9 years, 8 months ago

Top photo. Healthy lungs. Bottom photo. Smokers lungs. Any questions?

Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 8 months ago

We now have New Providence looking like Calcutta or Haiti as sharply contrasted with the lush greenery, pleasing mountainous topography and beautiful beaches that dominate most of Cuba. The current owners and financiers of Bah Mar and Atlantis no doubt fear the worst when it comes to the future of New Providence as a tourist destination. A telling statistic is the incidence of violent crime per capita. Wikipedia shows that, of a total of 218 countries in 2012, the Bahamas ranked 13 whereas Cuba ranked 117 in the incidence of violent crime per capita. Since 2012 the Bahamas has no doubt moved a few rungs up the crime ladder and now probably ranks in the top 10 violent crime ridden countries in the world. As U.S. foreign policy restrictions towards Cuba continue to be relaxed, the North American tourist market will hands down choose Cuba over New Providence thanks in large part to the failed policies and opportunities squandered by successive Christie led PLP governments and Ingraham led FNM governments since 1992. So as to properly give credit to all three politicians primarily responsible for the impending demise of our tourist industry, let's not forget the seed for violent crime that was planted by the great love affair Pindling and his led PLP governments had with Colombian drug traffickers in the 1980's. Much to the chagrin of the people of the Bahamas, the horrid chapter on the true legacies of Pindling, Ingraham and Christie is about to be written for all to remember for generations of Bahamians to come. Stay tuned!

Cobalt 9 years, 8 months ago

So true. I couldn't have said it better myself. Not only have both parties (PLP and FNM) failed the Bahamas..... but the citizens of the Bahamas have failed aswell.

duppyVAT 9 years, 8 months ago

Can NASA find the guns and drug houses??????????? Thats the main problem

Cobalt 9 years, 8 months ago

They can...... but that's not NASA's responsibility...... it's our responsibility. If our country would produce a consortium of scientific engineers, physicist, chemist, computer and electronic engineers to manufacture anti-crime devices such as drones and sonar-scan imaging to help combat complex criminal activity such as human, gun and drug smuggling; then the Bahamas would be in a better state. We could even develop a market where we could sell our products to surrounding Caribbean countries.

But unfortunately this probabley wont happen seeing that our national GPA is an F.

ThisIsOurs 9 years, 8 months ago

That would be great. I wonder if they could find the cowardly leader's courage....what about the BEC bribe taker? the $5000 extortion per contract at Ministry of Housing? Vision? If they could find any of those we might be ok..

Cobalt 9 years, 8 months ago

Lol. Well we know that's not going to happen. Crooks are not going to implicate nor indict themselves. The government doesn't want freedom of information nor any anti-corruption system in place because they know that it would undoubtedly expose their criminal practices.

realfreethinker 9 years, 8 months ago

they should see if the satellite could find our leader

duppyVAT 9 years, 8 months ago

Or what about NASA tracking all of those Haitian sailboats who are able to sail past Exuma and reach Nassau and even reach Abaco and what about tracking the RBDF new boats and the Dominican fishing vessels...................... LOL

avidreader 9 years, 8 months ago

With reference to Cuba as a tourist destination that will attract the US market I can only say that it is only a matter of time before the average Cuban who works for $20 a month (or less) will demand more from a thriving economy boosted by tourism. At present the best paid workers are the "jineteras" while everyone else is, as I was told in no uncertain terms many years ago while in the country, "muriendo de hambre": dying of hunger. Once tourism takes hold there will be many changes and the satellite map of Cuba will gradually reflect the massive building projects that will inevitably take place all over that large and historically interesting island.

ObserverOfChaos 9 years, 8 months ago

Then if Christie is really serious maybe he can get his head out of the sand and deal with the waste burning at the dump!!! Pious idiot! Killing us all with this crap poison in the air!

TheMadHatter 9 years, 8 months ago

Mr Christie said because of this country’s vulnerability to climate change “we qualify for funding and expect our fair share.”

Sounds good - except I think he didn't read the fine print - where it says that whatever dollar value each country qualifies for, will be paid with the equivalent value of CONDOMS.

Get ready for that big shipment.

TheMadHatter

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