International research on the adaptation to climate change for Central America and the Caribbean pointed out in 2008 the main consequences for agriculture, human health and even the style of living in the eastern province of Las Tunas, Cuba.

According to the research, which had the participation of experts from the Dominican Republic and Cuba, proposed 146 actions, which will be implemented depending on the required conditions.

In Las Tunas the proposed actions are responses to environmental deterioration, making this province the most deforested region on the island (only 14 percent of the total surface covered with forests) and with the lowest rate of rain (1,038 millimeters a year).

The recent rainy season saw the highest amounts of rainfall relative to previous years. However, 2009 is among the driest seasons since 1901. Figures from the Provincial Meteorological Center show that since 1971 there is a tendency toward a dry phase.

The increase in the minimum average yearly temperature of 1.2 degrees and the period of over 30 days between dry and rainy seasons also confirms the incidence of climate change in eastern Las Tunas province.

Although these developments may be regarded as a work of nature, they are also a response to the uncontrolled exploitation of resources. The main ecological battle is the consciousness of the people.

That is why it is so important to promote early consciousness on the need for sustainable development and the adaptation of new environmental circumstances.

In this sense, the Education Ministry in Las Tunas and the NGO Save the Children are developing a project called “Prepared to Face Hurricanes and Droughts,” which will make up over 10,000 people.

This initiative centers its actions in the training of teachers and students for the reduction of risks before natural disasters, as well as the formation of environmental culture as a response to climate change.

Young people that live in communities in the northern part of the province, where there are alterations in its weather conditions attend conferences made up of specialists from the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment and measures that are related to issues of ecology, share their knowledge among its comrades.

The failure of the recent Cancun Summit, in Mexico, showed that in order to achieve a more effective response before the destruction of the environment, a change is very important among humanity which must assume their relationship with nature.