Dissertations / Theses: 'Caribbean Climate'

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Bosshart, Sara A. (Sara Allison). "Climate controls on coral growth in the Caribbean." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79297.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Marine Geology and Geophysics (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2013. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-85). Accurate predictions of Caribbean coral reef responses to global climate change are currently limited by a lack of knowledge of the dominant environmental controls on coral growth. Corals exhibit significant responses to environmental variability occurring on multi-annual to decadal timescales, which are significantly longer than the duration of typical laboratory and field-based experiments. Skeletal growth records, which provide annually-resolved histories spanning several centuries, enable links to be established between coral growth and both long term trends and low-frequency oscillations in environmental conditions. We used 3-D CT scan and imaging techniques to quantify the growth of 3 massive corals (Siderastrea siderea) from the US Virgin Islands (USVI) over the period 1950-2009 and compared these growth rates to other records collected from the USVI, Puerto Rico, the Yucatan, Belize and the Bahamas. While coral growth rates were inversely correlated to sea surface temperature (SST) in the Western Caribbean basin (Yucatan, Belize, Bahamas), we found no significant relationship between SST and coral growth in the Eastern basin (USVI, Puerto Rico). Instead, we found a significant inverse relationship between coral growth in the Western Caribbean and changes in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and a significant positive relationship between coral growth in the Eastern Caribbean Region and shifts in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Using data from the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) we compared the wind field anomalies during periods of positive coral growth in both regions with the wind field anomalies during phases of these climactic modes that are conducive to coral growth. We find that both the AMO and the PDO play a significant role in shifting the mean wind patters in these Caribbean regions, with the PDO primarily affecting wind patters in the Eastern Basin and the AMO affecting wind patterns in the Western basin. We suggest that the altered wind patterns associated with these modes may induce upwelling favorable conditions in their respective regions of influence, increasing the availability of nutrients for coral growth. by Sara A. Bosshart. Ph.D.

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Forster, Johanna. "Vulnerability of tourism-dependent Caribbean islands to climate change." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2010. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/19103/.

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Matus, Kramer Arnoldo. "Climate change adaptation and tourism in the Mexican Caribbean." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:548c18c7-e3da-4c12-8389-608b8f18909c.

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The Mexican Caribbean tourism sector is highly exposed to hurricane activity, yet coastal tourism is also a major driver influencing regional biophysical and social vulnerability to climate risks. Drawing on a political ecology approach and a vulnerability assessment, this study asks how experiences with extreme hurricane events in the Mexican Caribbean shape climate change adaptation in the regional tourism sector. This study uses multiple methods, scales and field sites to (a) examine how biophysical vulnerability to extreme hurricanes affects the tourism sector, (b) explain the changing conditions of social vulnerability linked to hurricane damage in the tourism sector and (c) assess the present and future opportunities and obstacles for adaptation planning. The main findings show that the region is experiencing a phase of unprecedented high intensity hurricanes. It is uncertain, however, whether changes in hurricane activity exceed natural multi-decadal variability. Tourism is one major driver of land use changes which have resulted in some of the world’s fastest increase in coastal urban sprawl. Most tourism infrastructure is located in areas with the greatest exposure to hurricanes. Hurricane Wilma which hit the region in 2005 is the most expensive natural disaster in the history of the Mexican insurance industry. Hotels have showed a high ability to recover operations after hurricanes. There is a high penetration of insurance ownership in hotels and there is substantial mobilization of public and private financial and human resources during hurricane disasters. Hotel responses to hurricanes, however, tend to be reactive and autonomous. One important consequence of hurricanes is that hoteliers in the interest to reduce operational costs, fire those workers with the weakest labour rights. Thus, hotel workers suffer from ‘double exposure’, a situation where hotel workers are confronted with the consequences of climate change while simultaneously suffering the consequences of globalization and neoliberal policies which have reduced the power of unions and weakened access to social security. The Mexican government has created a national climate change strategy and its operational programme which has led to the consolidation of an adaptation organizational structures at the national and state levels. I conclude, however, that adaptation planning may not result in the necessary actions on the ground since local actors are not well integrated yet into such efforts. This study shows the importance of regional adaptation research that takes into account perspectives from both the physical and social sciences. This study highlights the importance of interactions between local actors, the larger socioeconomic and political economy context to inform adaptation planning and policy.

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Kilbourne, Kelly Halimeda. "Tropical Atlantic and Caribbean climate variations during the past eight centuries." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2006. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0001724.

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Aponte-Gonzalez, Felix Ivan. "Concerning Caribbean climate change vulnerabilities and adaptation in small island cities." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2014. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/concerning-caribbean-climate-change-vulnerabilities-and-adaptation-in-small-island-cities(f9bc2ea2-8fc7-4d91-8577-87fa88b8db12).html.

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Climate change poses one of the biggest challenges that most countries have to face over the coming decades. The transformations in our global weather patterns are expected to bring some very adverse effects for most of the island nations that comprise the Caribbean region. These nations have been continuously identified as one of the territorial groups that are most vulnerable to climate change, while the region barely contributes to the main triggers of these changes. Caribbean island nations have many elements that hinder their individual and regional development. Climate change will aggravate those conditions while bringing new challenges to these territories, particularly in the capital cities, as these urban areas serve are the main economic, social, political and cultural centres of these nations. A good understanding of the vulnerabilities of these cities will become a critical factor for developing good adaptation measures for their respective nations. Planning can prove useful for implementing climate change adaptation strategies, particularly for cities. This research provides three main contributions to the literature on climate change and on urban planning studies. First, it expands the discussion upon the linkages between disaster risk reduction experiences and climate change adaptation practices. Second, it highlights the relevance of capital cities for evaluating climate change impacts and adaptation actions for small island territories. The third contribution is the creation of a planning tool to assess climate change vulnerabilities of Caribbean cities. These three elements will further expand the existing knowledge base related to climate change adaptation and urban planning disciplines, particularly pertaining to the Caribbean region. Caribbean cities will greatly benefit from a planning perspective that can guide their development processes in the face of climate impacts. By means of vulnerability assessments it is possible to facilitate the analysis of climate change impacts and outcomes on vulnerable areas and planners can contribute to this aspect. A planning support tool was created to aid in the development of a vulnerability assessment for small island cities in the region - the Caribbean Climate change Urban Vulnerability Index (CCUVI). Using the CCUVI, a vulnerability assessment methodology was developed, using the city of San Juan (Puerto Rico) as a case study. The results of the vulnerability assessment helped identify five different areas within the case study city that are prone to be more affected by climate change impacts. The assessment also analysed how the vulnerability conditions in these areas and in the city changed through time, exploring two distinct scenario storylines for San Juan towards 2050. A series of normative and operational recommendations emerged from the assessment process that will help planners and policymakers engage in adaptation actions to reduce the climate vulnerabilities of Caribbean small island capital cities.

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Maharaj, Shobha S. "The impact of climate change on the small island developing states of the Caribbean." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:914cc340-83e1-4ea4-b985-fe863b1dea7d.

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Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean are one of the world’s ‘hottest’ ‘biodiversity hotspots’. However, this biodiversity continues to be threatened by habitat loss, and now, by climate change. The research reported here investigated the potential of species distribution modelling (SDM) as a plant conservation tool within Caribbean SIDS, using Trinidad as a case study. Prior to the application of SDM, ancillary analyses including: (i) quantification and mapping of forest cover change (1969 to 2007) and deforestation rates, and (ii) assessment of the island’s vegetation community distribution and associated drivers were carried out. Community distribution and commercial importance and global/regional rarity were used to generate a list of species for assessing the potential of SDM within Trinidad. Species occurrence data were used to generate species distribution models for present climate conditions within the SDM algorithm, MaxEnt. These results were assessed through expert appraisal and concurrence with results of ecological analyses. These models were used to forecast suitable species climate space forty years into an SRES A2 future. Present and future models were then combined to produce a ‘collective change map’ which showed projected areas of species’ range expansion, contraction or stability for this group of species with respect to Trinidad’s Protected Areas (PAs) network. Despite the models being indicative rather than accurate, it was concluded that species’ climate space is likely to decrease or disappear across Trinidad. Extended beyond Trinidad into the remainder of the Caribbean region, SDM may be a crucial tool in identifying which PAs within the region (and not individual islands) will facilitate future survival of given target species. Consideration of species conservation from a regional, rather than an individual island perspective, is strongly recommended for aiding the Caribbean SIDS to adapt in response to climate change.

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Boyd, Meighan. "Speleothems from Warm Climates : Holocene Records from the Caribbean and Mediterranean Regions." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-121750.

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This thesis contributes to increased knowledge on Holocene climate and environmental variability from two complex and sparsely studied areas. Using a speleothem from Gasparee Cave, Trinidad, as a paleoclimate archive, the local expression of the 8.2 ka (thousand years before 1950) climate event and associated patterns of the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and rainfall is provided. Subsequent speleothem studies using multi-proxy analysis of stalagmites from Kapsia Cave and Alepotrypa Cave, Greece, provide records of climate, vegetation and human induced changes in the cave environment during parts of the Holocene. The speleothems from the well-studied Neolithic habitation site, Alepotrypa Cave, have produced a climate and habitation record which covers the period of 6.3-1.0 ka. The cave was inhabited between 8.0-5.2 ka and was closed by a tectonic event, which has preserved the settlement. The stable oxygen record shows the first well-dated and robust expression of the 4.2 ka dry event in the Peloponnese, places the timing of the 3.2 ka dry event within an ongoing dry period, and shows a final dry event at 1.6 ka. The North Atlantic as well as more regional drivers, such as the North Sea Caspian Pattern Index is proposed to, in a complex interplay, govern many of the climate trends and events observed. Trace element variation after the site is abandoned indicate what is interpreted as two volcanic eruptions, the Minoan eruption of Thera (Santorini) around 3.6 ka and the 2.7 ka eruption of Somma (Vesuvius). Variations in trace elements during the habitation period show clear human influence, indicating an association with specific cave activities. One of the most interesting prospects for continued work on Alepotrypa Cave is this successful marriage of speleothem studies and archeology. A framework of dates which constrain some behavior of people living in the cave is only the beginning, and there is great potential to continue finding new clues in the speleothem data. Denna avhandling bidrar till ökad kunskap om klimatets variationer och miljön i två geografiskt skilda områden på låga breddgrader och under tidsperioder inom den Holocena epoken. Genom att använda en droppsten (stalagmit) från Gasparee-grottan, Trinidad, som ett paleoklimatarkiv, har det bland annat varit möjligt att visa att Trinidad upplevde torrare förhållanden under den snabba klimatförändring som observerats ske för 8200 år sedan på många platser i världen. Denna torrare klimatsituation i Trinidad föreslås vara ett resultat av en sydlig förflyttning av den intertropiska konvergenszonen. Övriga stalagmiter som studerats för denna avhandling kommer från Kapsia-grottan och Alepotrypa-grottan som finns på Peloponnesos-halvön i Grekland. Resultaten därifrån speglar dels klimat- och vegetationsvariatoner och dels graden av mänsklig aktivitet, under tiden för ca 8000 år sedan till för 1000 år sedan. Alepotrypa-grottan är känd för att vara en av de större Neolitiska boplatserna i Grekland. Isotop- och spårämnesanalyser av stalagmiterna har bidragit med ny kunskap om tidpunkten för mänsklig aktivitet, hur människorna påverkade grott-miljön samt hur klimatet varierat efter det att grottan, genom en tektonisk händelse, stängdes för människans inverkan. Snabba klimatförändringar, för 4200 och 3200 år sedan, observerade i andra regioner, rekonstrueras här för första gången på Peloponnesos. En snabb förändring mot torrare förhållanden observeras även för 1600 år sedan. De klimatstyrande processerna föreslås vara en kombination av storskaliga processer som den nordatlantiska oscillationen och mer regionala processer som det så kallade North Sea Caspian Pattern Index. Variationer i spårämnen i stalagmiterna efter att Alepotrypa-grottan stängdes kan kopplas till två vulkaniska utbrott, nämligen det Minoiska utbrottet av Thera på ön Santorini kring 3600 år sedan och utbrottet av Somma (Vesuvius) kring 2700 år sedan. Spårämnesvariationer under bo-perioden ger tydliga indikationer på människans påverkan på grottmiljön och som delvis kan länkas till specifika aktiviteter, som eldning av dynga i grottan. Avhandlingen är ett resultat av en framgångsrik kombination av klimatstudier och arkeologisk kunskap och utgör ett viktigt underlag för fördjupat interdisciplinärt forskningssamarbete i Alepotrypa-grottan. At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript. Paper 6: Manuscript.

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Jaja, Jessica. "Beyond Climate Change Theory: What Contributes to the Adaptive Capacity of Caribbean Small Island Communities?" Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/32173.

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The focus of this research is on identifying the determinants of local-level climate change adaptive capacity in Caribbean small island communities. A single case study approach was employed to assess retrospectively both internal and external factors that contributed to the adaptive capacity of Paget Farm, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Caribbean region’s first solar-powered desalination plant was implemented in the community specifically as a climate change adaptation strategy and thus provides an ideal case for retrospective analysis. A series of semi-structured interviews with local residents and key stakeholders revealed a number of interacting social and institutional factors that contribute to community-based adaptive capacity. Further analysis of institutional factors was undertaken using Social Network Analysis, which enabled visualization and quantification of vertical and horizontal institutional integration of the networks formed during different phases of project implementation. The research extends scholarly understanding of the determinants that influence local-level climate change adaptive capacity and provides practical evidence that can assist small island communities to respond to a changing climate.

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Albright, Rebecca. "Effects of Ocean Acidification on Early Life History Stages of Caribbean Scleractinian Corals." Scholarly Repository, 2011. http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/574.

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Ocean acidification (OA) refers to the increase in acidity (decrease in pH) of the ocean’s surface waters resulting from oceanic uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Mounting experimental evidence suggests that OA threatens numerous marine organisms, including reef-building corals; however, few studies have focused on the effects on early life history stages. Coral recruitment is critical to the persistence and resilience of coral reefs and is regulated by several early life processes, including: larval availability (gamete production, fertilization, etc.), larval settlement, post-settlement growth, and survival. Environmental factors that disrupt these early life processes can result in compromised or failed recruitment and profoundly affect future population dynamics. To evaluate the effects of OA on the sexual recruitment of corals, sexual reproduction (including fertilization and sperm swimming speeds) and several critical early life history stages (including larval metabolism, larval settlement, and post-settlement growth) were tested in common Caribbean coral species. Three pCO2 levels were used: ambient seawater (380 µatm) and two pCO2 scenarios that are projected to occur by the middle (560 µatm) and end (800 µatm) of the century as determined by the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change. Results show that fertilization success, larval metabolic rates, larval settlement rates, and post-settlement growth rates are all compromised with increasing pCO2. This dissertation demonstrates that OA has the potential to negatively impact sexual reproduction and multiple early life history processes of several common Caribbean coral species and may contribute to substantial declines in sexual recruitment that are felt at the community and/or ecosystem scale.

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Maupin, Christopher Robert. "Extracting a Climate Signal from the Skeletal Geochemistry of the Caribbean Coral Siderastrea siderea." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2008. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0002433.

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Chaves-Fonnegra, Andia. "Increase of Excavating Sponges on Caribbean Coral Reefs: Reproduction, Dispersal, and Coral Deterioration." NSUWorks, 2014. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_stuetd/5.

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Coral reefs ecosystems are deteriorating and facing dramatic changes. These changes suggest a shift in dominance from corals to other benthic organisms. Particularly in the Caribbean Sea, with corals dying, sponges have become the leading habitat-forming benthic animals. However, little is known about what life-history traits allow organisms to proliferate in a marine system that is undergoing change. Thus, the objective of this dissertation was to try to understand the current increase of encrusting excavating sponges on deteriorating Caribbean coral reefs through the study of reproduction, recruitment and dispersal potential of the widely distributed and currently expanding species, Cliona delitrix. Different methodological approaches were used, such as histology, electron microscopy, quantification of sponges in the field, genetics, and mathematical modeling. Results are presented in four different chapters. It was found that Cliona delitrix has an extended reproductive cycle in Florida, USA, from April - May to around November - December depending on a >25°C sea-water temperature threshold. C. delitrix gametogenesis is asynchronous and it has multiple spawning events. C. delitrix is recruiting abundantly on Caribbean coral reefs, preferentially on recent coral mortality than on old coral mortality. The increase in C. delitrix and other excavating sponges can be explained by the repeated spawning and by the coincidence in time and space of larval production with the availability of new dead coral, which tend to overlap during the warmest months of the year. Eggs or larvae of C. delitrix appear to survive enough to be transported by currents over larger distances. It was found that dispersal ranges for Cliona delitrix may reach as far as ~315 km in the Florida reef track, and over ~971 km in the South Caribbean Sea, between Belize and Panama. Thus, reproduction, dispersal, and recruitment patterns of C. delitrix along with oceanographic currents, and eddies that form at different periods of time, are sustaining the spread of this sponge on coral reefs. According to mathematical models carried out, C. delitrix increase on reefs fluctuates depending of coral mortality events and available space on old dead coral (colonized by algae and other invertebrates). However, under temperature anomalies, these sponges will 2 tend to increase and take over the reef system only if heat stress and coral mortality is moderate. Under massive mortality events both corals and sponges will tend to decline, although sponges at a slower rate than corals. In general, coral excavating sponges have been favored by coral mortality, especially during past few decades. However as bioeroders, their success is also limited by the success of calcifying corals. In a reef management context and based on this dissertation’s findings, it is suggested that excavating sponges, and especially Cliona delitrix, should be more formally included in reef monitoring programs. Their increase can be used to track coral mortality events on reefs (past and future), and also can be used as another major bioindicator of health on coral reefs.

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Kennedy, Emma Victoria. "Climate change impacts on Caribbean coral reefs : reef accretion and scope for acclimation through symbiont genetic diversity." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/13142.

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Caribbean coral reefs are in crisis. Degradation of living coral and fish assemblages has accelerated during the past half century, with a suite of anthropogenic drivers –from local fishing pressure to unprecedented global scale climate change– implicated. Accompanying these losses is the physical disintegration of the three-dimensional calcium carbonate reef structure. Flattening of reefs, synonymous with loss of ecosystem function and provision of services, is caused by an imbalance in the carbonate budget: a trade-off between carbonate production and consolidation by calcifying organisms (principally coral-algal symbioses) and framework breakdown by bioeroding organisms and storms. This thesis focuses on expanding our understanding of two functionally critical issues that strongly influence Caribbean coral reef community composition and dynamics, and which look likely to have a key bearing on the future state of reefs in the region: coral photosynthetic endosymbionts, and carbonate budgets. The former exert an important role in the production of the coral carbonate framework, whilst the latter reflect the dynamics of reef carbonate production and erosion. In the first part of the thesis, existing information on rates of carbonate production and erosion on Caribbean reefs is utilised to construct a detailed theoretical carbonate budget model. The model is used to chart historic changes in Caribbean carbonate budgets, tracking reef flattening across time and identifying key ecological drivers of these changes. This “eco-geomorphic” model is then coupled with state-of-the-art climate and ecological models, to project reef processes to the end of the century, asking the question ‘at what point will Caribbean reefs shift to net erosional regimes?’. The models are also used to explore the efficacy of local management and climate mitigation in altering the negative trajectory of reefs under projected warming and ocean acidification. In the second part of the thesis, 632 corals from across the wider Caribbean are screened, to construct the largest recorded baseline of symbiont biogeography for the region’s key remaining reef framework builder, Montastraea annularis. Spatial patterns of symbiont diversity are explored in terms of environmental, geographic and genetic factors, contributing to the growing body of work currently in the early stages of cataloguing symbiont diversity and its ecological significance. Although carbonate budget models forecast a bleak outlook for the Caribbean, detection of widespread low-level prevalence of thermally-tolerant endosymbionts in M. annularis provides a weak ‘nugget of hope’ for potential coral acclimation. Combined local management and aggressive mitigative action on carbon emissions are pre-requisites for maintenance of functioning reefs into the next century. Coral reef conservation efforts can be improved if we fully appreciate the contributions of all reef components –not just the enigmatic ones– to healthy reef functioning.

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Wei, Wei [Verfasser], Gerrit [Akademischer Betreuer] Lohmann, and Michael [Akademischer Betreuer] Schulz. "Simulated Holocene climate variability: insights from the long-term ocean circulation and the Caribbean climate / Wei Wei. Gutachter: Gerrit Lohmann ; Michael Schulz. Betreuer: Gerrit Lohmann." Bremen : Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen, 2011. http://d-nb.info/107215580X/34.

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Pickering, Evelyn. "The social construction of water in Dominica and how it has influenced use and exportation." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1571772.

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Dominica has been recognized for its landscape containing hundreds of rivers and receiving high rainfall, and "our water belongs to the world," or so says many Dominican citizens, and their government. A schism exists in the understanding of the water resources of Dominica. Local perceptions are in conflict with regional climate change data. Where climate change research has found Dominica to be high risk for water quality and quantity, locals maintain the mindset that there is an overabundance of the resource. Local epistemologies influence governmental water management practices, which presently focus on exportation of the resource. In efforts of economic development, while trusting that there is a surplus of water, Dominica leases billions of gallons of water each year to foreign companies. A popular conception on the island is that there is an abundance of water, and therefore, it should be shared globally. This unique social construction of Dominican water has been a foundation leading to the sale of billions of gallons of fresh water to international corporations. However, the bulk exportation of water is occurring in the context of climate change, and thus, the availability of water will be impacted by changes in annual rainfall, sea level rise, increased temperatures, and more severe hurricanes. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how the social understanding of water in Dominica was constructed, and what this means in relation to resource exportation and climate change. This research-based paper explores Dominican perceptions of water abundance and sustainability.

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Sealey-Higgins, Leon Ayo. "The politics of climate change in the Caribbean : a sociological investigation into policy responses, public engagement and activism." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2013. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/6499/.

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Debate abounds over whether or not the lack of adequate political action on climate change can be explained by reference to a ‘post-democratic’ and ‘postpolitical’ consensus. While there has been scholarship that looks at neoliberalism and environmental concerns in the Caribbean, a region commonly represented as being particularly vulnerable to climate change, there is little that explores responses to climate change there sociologically, and in terms of debate around the post-political consensus. This thesis, therefore, constitutes an ethnographic investigation into the politics of responses to climate change, concentrating on representations of public engagement, activism and policy responses, in three case-study sites in different contexts, all relevant to the Caribbean region as a whole. These are: 1) the regional context, focusing on climate change policies and responses in the Caribbean; 2) the international context, exploring policy-making, public engagement and social movement activism at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 16th Conference of Parties in Cancún, Mexico; and 3) the national context, examining the relationships between community engagement around conservation, development and the governance of protected areas, and climate change in Belize. The contributions of the thesis are as follows. Firstly the research details the specific dynamics of tendencies towards neoliberal development, and hence depoliticisation, in responses to climate change in each of the case-study contexts. Nevertheless, the theory of the post-political is elaborated on where it is shown that these tendencies can be better understood with reference to the legacies of colonialism in the region, and the forms of development established and enforced in their wake. Hence, secondly, the research considers depoliticisation processes in the post-colonial contexts of the Caribbean, indicating that pressures towards neoliberal development shape responses to climate change there. Thirdly, the study adds texture to existing discussions by moving beyond overly monolithic theoretical accounts of post-politics, via a nuanced engagement with ethnographic data, to highlight the ambivalent dimensions of people’s accounts, and the pragmatic actions they take in response. An evaluation of the latter reveals challenges to tendencies towards depoliticisation, as well as some of the tensions involved in trying to implement depoliticized responses. Finally, I demonstrate that different responses toclimate change imply contrasting models of society, and human action. The data points towards there being an affinity between post-political and individualised, or ‘unsociological’ accounts of climate change.

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Rendina, Francesco. "Effects of acute temperature increase on performance and survival of Caribbean echinoids." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2016. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/10050/.

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Climate change is occurring at a faster rate than in the past, with an expected increase of mean sea surface temperatures up to 4.8°C by the end of this century. The actual capabilities of marine invertebrates to adapt to these rapid changes has still to be understood. Adult echinoids play a crucial role in the tropical ecosystems where they live. Despite their role, few studies about the effect of temperature increase on their viability have been reported in literature. This thesis work reports a first systematic study on several Caribbean echinoids about their tolerance to temperature rise in the context of global warming. The research - carried out at the Bocas del Toro Station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Panama - focalized on the 6 sea urchins Lytechinus variegatus, L. williamsi, Echinometra lucunter, E. viridis, Tripneustes ventricosus and Eucidaris tribuloides, and the 2 sand dollars Clypeaster rosaceus and C. subdepressus. Mortality and neuromuscular well-being indicators - such as righting response, covering behaviour, adhesion to the substrate, spine and tube feet movements - have been analysed in the temperature range 28-38°C. The righting time RT (i.e., the time necessary for the animal to right itself completely after inversion) measured in the 6 sea urchin species, demonstrated a clearly dependence on the water temperature. The experiments allowed to determine the “thermal safety margin” (TSM) of each species. Echinometra lucunter and E. viridis resulted the most tolerant species to high temperatures with a TSM of 5.5°C, while T. ventricosus was the most vulnerable with a TSM of only 3°C. The study assessed that all the species already live at temperatures close to their upper thermal limit. Their TSMs are comparable to the predicted temperature increase by 2100. In absence of acclimatization to such temperature change, these species could experience severe die-offs, with important consequences for tropical marine ecosystems.

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Dungan, Ashley M. "Species Specific Microcalcification in Reef Building Caribbean Corals in Ocean Acidification Conditions." NSUWorks, 2015. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_stuetd/392.

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Coral reefs are one of the most economically important ecosystems on the planet. Despite their great contribution to the world economy, anthropogenic influence via carbon dioxide emissions is leading to unprecedented changes with concerns about subsequent negative impacts on reefs. Surface ocean pH has dropped 0.1 units in the past century; in spite of this rapid shift in oceanic chemistry, it is unclear if individual species or life stages of Caribbean stony corals will be more sensitive to ocean acidification (OA). Examined is the relationship between CO2-induced seawater acidification, net calcification, photosynthesis, and respiration in three model Caribbean coral species: Orbicella faveolata, Montastraea cavernosa, and Dichocoenia stokesi, under near ambient (465 ± 5.52 ppm), and high (1451 ± 6.51 ppm) CO2 conditions. A species specific response was observed for net calcification; D. stokesi and M. cavernosa displayed a significant reduction in CaCO3 secreted under OA conditions, while O. faveolata fragments showed no significant difference. At the cellular level, transmission electron micrographs verified that all species and treatments were actively calcifying. Skeletal crystals nucleated by O. faveolata in the high CO2 treatments were statistically longer relative to controls. These results suggest that the addition of CO2 may shift the overall energy budget, causing a modification of skeletal aragonite crystal structures, rather than inhibiting skeletal crystal formation. Consequential to this energy shift, Orbicella faveolata belongs in the category of Scleractinian corals that exhibit a lower sensitivity to ocean acidification.

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Millan-Otoya, Juan Carlos. "Understanding Climate Change and Sea Level: A Case Study of Middle School Student Comprehension and An Evaluation of Tide Gauges off the Panama Canal in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea." Scholar Commons, 2015. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5995.

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The present study had two main objectives. The first was to determine the degree of understanding of climate change, sea level and sea level rise among middle school students. Combining open-ended questions with likert-scaled questions, we identified student conceptions on these topics in 86 students from 7th and 8th grades during 2012 and 2013 before and after implementing a Curriculum Unit (CU). Additional information was obtained by adding drawings to the open-ended questions during the second year to gauge how student conceptions varied from a verbal and a visual perspective. Misconceptions were identified both pre- and post-CU among all the topics taught. Students commonly used climate and climate change as synonyms, sea level was often defined as water depth, and several students failed to understand the complexities that determine changes in sea level due to wind, tides, and changes in sea surface temperature. In general, 8th grade students demonstrated a better understanding of these topics, as reflected in fewer apparent misconceptions after the CU. No previous study had reported such improvement. This showed the value of implementing short lessons. Using Piaget’s theories on cognitive development, the differences between 7th and 8th grade students reflect a transition to a more mature level which allowed students to comprehend more complex concepts that included multiple variables. The second objective was to determine if the frequency of sea level maxima not associated with tides over the last 100 years increased in two tide gauges located on the two extremes of the Panama canal, i.e. Balboa in the Pacific Ocean and Cristobal in the Caribbean Sea. These records were compared to time series of regional sea surface temperature, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), to determine if these played a role as physical drivers of sea level at either location. Neither record showed an increase in the frequency of sea level maxima events. No parameter analyzed explained variability in sea level maxima in Cristobal. There was a significant correlation between the zonal component of the wind and sea level at Balboa for the early record (r=0.153; p-value0.05). There was a clear relationship between sea level maxima and ENSO. 70% of the years with higher counts of higher sea level events corresponded to El Niño years. A randomization test with 1000 iterations, shuffling the El Niño years, showed most of these randomizations grouped between 14-35% of the events occurring during a randomized El Niño year. In no iteration did the percentage of events that occurred during El Niño years rise above 65%. The correlation with zonal wind and the probable correlation with sea surface temperature can be linked via ENSO, since ENSO is associated with changes in the strength of the Trade Winds and positive anomalies in the sea surface temperature of the tropical Pacific Ocean.

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Pickering, Evelyn Rose. "The Social Construction of Water in Dominica and How it has Influenced Use and Exportation." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/338920.

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Dominica has been recognized for its landscape containing hundreds of rivers and receiving high rainfall, and "our water belongs to the world," or so says many Dominican citizens, and their government. A schism exists in the understanding of the water resources of Dominica. Local perceptions are in conflict with regional climate change data. Where climate change research has found Dominica to be high risk for water quality and quantity, locals maintain the mindset that there is an overabundance of the resource. Local epistemologies influence governmental water management practices, which presently focus on exportation of the resource. In efforts of economic development, while trusting that there is a surplus of water, Dominica leases billions of gallons of water each year to foreign companies. A popular conception on the island is that there is an abundance of water, and therefore, it should be shared globally. This unique social construction of Dominican water has been a foundation leading to the sale of billions of gallons of fresh water to international corporations. However, the bulk exportation of water is occurring in the context of climate change, and thus, the availability of water will be impacted by changes in annual rainfall, sea level rise, increased temperatures, and more severe hurricanes. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how the social understanding of water in Dominica was constructed, and what this means in relation to resource exportation and climate change. This research-based paper explores Dominican perceptions of water abundance and sustainability.

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Wall-Palmer, Deborah. "Response of pteropod and related faunas to climate change and ocean acidification." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/1398.

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Recent concern over the effects of ocean acidification upon calcifying organisms in the modern ocean has highlighted the aragonitic shelled thecosomatous pteropods as being at a high risk. Laboratory studies have shown that increased pCO2, leading to decreased pH and low carbonate concentrations, has a negative impact on the ability of pteropods to calcify and maintain their shells. This study presents the micropalaeontological analysis of marine cores from the Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. Pteropods, heteropods and planktic foraminifera were picked from samples to provide palaeoenvironmental data for each core. Determination of pteropod calcification was made using the Limacina Dissolution Index (LDX) and the average shell size of Limacina inflata specimens. Pteropod calcification indices were compared to global ice volume and Vostok atmospheric CO2 concentrations to determine any associations between climate and calcification. Results show that changes in surface ocean carbonate concentrations throughout the Late Pleistocene did affect the calcification of thecosomatous pteropods. These effects can be detected in shells from marine sediments that are located well above the aragonite lysocline and have not undergone post-depositional dissolution. The results of this study confirm the findings of laboratory studies, showing a decrease in calcification during interglacial periods, when surface ocean carbonate concentrations were lower. During glacial periods, calcification was enhanced due to the increased availability of carbonate. This trend was found in all sediments studied, indicating that the response of pteropods to past climate change is of global significance. These results demonstrate that pteropods have been negatively affected by oceanic pH levels relatively higher and changing at a lesser rate than those predicted for the 21st Century. Results also establish the use of pteropods and heteropods in reconstructing surface ocean conditions. The LDX is a fast and appropriate way of determining variations in surface water carbonate saturation. Abundances of key species were also found to constrain palaeotemperatures better than planktic foraminifera, a use which could be further developed.

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Meckler, Anna Nele. "Late quaternary changes in nitrogen fixation and climate variability recorded by sediments from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea /." Zürich : ETH, 2006. http://e-collection.ethbib.ethz.ch/show?type=diss&nr=16811.

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Nadimi, Ilghelich. "Coastal Community-based Protocols and Guidelines for Adaptation Planning." Thèse, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/23596.

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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, “Adaptation to climate change is defined as, an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities” (IPCC 2007). Adaptation is required due to the increase in the number of natural disasters and extreme changes in environmental conditions in coastal areas that are a function of sea level rise, floods, extreme heat, drought, and coastal storm surge from severe storms. To reduce the impacts of climate change risks in the future, coastal communities through local government initiatives are compelled to develop and implement grass roots community plans. This study is part of an International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA), “C-Change” that aims to develop community-based adaptation protocols based on best practices and through the evaluation of the scientific method of problem solving designed to help coastal communities be sustainable and to protect their local coastal environments. To this end, the thesis reviews the international development and application of adaptive strategies related to climate change and evaluates these global strategies for identification of best practices and application to coastal communities. The objective of this research is to design and develop improved C-Change community adaptation frameworks by analyzing the applications of international protocols and local action plans with respect to the scientific method and of problem solving through using AHP (Analytic hierarchy process) as a tool, and by choosing best practices to provide guidelines for communities’ climate adaptation plans for the C-Change ICURA coastal communities in Canada.

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Maldonado, Tito. "Inter-annual variability of rainfall in Central America : Connection with global and regional climate modulators." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten och landskapslära, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-304656.

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Central America is a region regularly affected by natural disasters, with most of them having a hydro-meteorological origin. Therefore, the understanding of annual changes of precipitation upon the region is relevant for planning and mitigation of natural disasters. This thesis focuses on studying the precipitation variability at annual scales in Central America within the framework of the Swedish Centre for Natural Disaster Science. The aims of this thesis are: i) to establish the main climate variability sources during the boreal winter, spring and summer by using different statistical techniques, and ii) to study the connection of sea surface temperature anomalies of the neighbouring oceans with extreme precipitation events in the region. Composites analysis is used to establish the variability sources during winter. Canonical correlation analysis is employed to explore the connection between the SST anomalies and extreme rainfall events during May-June and August-October. In addition, a global circulation model is used to replicate the results found with canonical correlation analysis, but also to study the relationship between the Caribbean Sea surface temperature and the Caribbean low-level jet. The results show that during winter both El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, are associated with changes of the sea level pressure near the North Atlantic Subtropical High and the Aleutian low. In addition, the El Niño Southern Oscillation signal is intensified (destroyed) when El Niño and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation have the same (opposite) sign. Sea surface temperature anomalies have been related to changes in both the amount and temporal distribution of rainfall. Precipitation anomalies during May-June are associated with sea surface temperature anomalies over the Tropical North Atlantic region. Whereas, precipitation anomalies during August-September-October are associated with the sea surface temperature anomalies contrast between the Pacific Ocean and the Tropical North Atlantic region. Model outputs show no association between sea surface temperature gradients and the Caribbean low-level jet intensification. Canonical correlation analysis shows potential for prediction of extreme precipitation events, however, forecast validation shows that socio-economic variables must be included for more comprehensive natural disaster assessments.

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Giry, Cyril [Verfasser], Thomas [Akademischer Betreuer] Felis, Gerold [Akademischer Betreuer] Wefer, and Gerrit [Akademischer Betreuer] Lohmann. "Coral-based reconstructions of southern Caribbean climate during the mid- to late Holocene / Cyril Giry. Gutachter: Gerold Wefer ; Gerrit Lohmann. Betreuer: Thomas Felis." Bremen : Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen, 2011. http://d-nb.info/1071897748/34.

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Colna, Kaitlyn E. "Latitudinal Position and Trends of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and its Relationship with Upwelling in the Southern Caribbean Sea and Global Climate Indices." Thesis, University of South Florida, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10262701.

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The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a feature that results from the ocean-atmosphere interactions in the tropics around the world. The ITCZ is characterized by surface wind convergence, tall storm clouds, and it forms a belt of high time-averaged precipitation around the globe. The ITCZ undergoes seasonal migrations between 5°S and 15°N roughly following the subsolar point on Earth with the seasons, with a mean annual position located slightly above the Equator, between 2° and 5°N. This study tested the hypothesis that there was a northward shift in the median position of the ITCZ in the first decade of the 2000’s relative to the 1900’s. This hypothesis has been posed in the literature given a weakening in the intensity of the Trade Winds observed in the southern Caribbean Sea during the first decade of the 2000’s, with concomitant ecological impacts due to weakening in coastal wind-driven upwelling. The hypothesis was tested by analyzing variations in the monthly latitudinal position of the ITCZ over the Atlantic Ocean relative to the median position computed for the period 1987–2011. The position of the ITCZ was derived from satellite-derived ocean surface wind measurements collected from 1987 to 2011. A Mann-Kendall analysis and a Monte Carlo simulation were used to test for trends in the median cross-basin latitudinal position of the ITCZ. The study included an analysis of regional changes across the tropical central Atlantic (50°W to 15°W), the Western Atlantic (50°W to 30°W), and the Eastern Atlantic (30°W to 15°W) within the tropics. The results show a slight southward trend in the median position of the ITCZ over the central Atlantic and also in the Eastern Atlantic in the first decade of the 2000’s relative to the 1990’s. While this trend is barely significant, it is likely simply due to interannual variation in the average annual position of the ITCZ. The data were also examined for the timing and persistence of a double ITCZ in the Atlantic. The double ITCZ over the Atlantic appeared every year in February or March, with the largest separation between the northern and southern branches of the ITCZ observed in June and July. The possible effects of changes in the average latitudinal position of the ITCZ on the upwelling in the Cariaco Basin (southeastern Caribbean Sea off Venezuela) were also examined. Anomalies of the median of the latitudinal position of the ITCZ in the Atlantic were compared with anomalies of in-situ temperature collected during the 1990’s and the first decade of the 2000’s by the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series program and with anomalies of satellite SST (from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite; AVHRR) from 1995 to 2016. Correlation analysis were performed between anomalies of water temperatures at various depths and anomalies of satellite SST with anomalies of the monthly mean ITCZ position with lags up to 3 months for the time series, and also just for the Cariaco basin upwelling months (December-April). For the whole Cariaco time series there were no significant correlations between the anomalies of the ITCZ position and anomalies in subsurface temperatures in the Cariaco Basin. However, during the upwelling period, the central Atlantic and Western Atlantic ITCZ position anomalies were directly correlated with Cariaco Basin temperature anomalies with no-lag (r = 0.20), and the central and Eastern Atlantic ITCZ position anomalies were inversely correlated with Cariaco Basin temperatures (r ~ -0.22 to -0.28) with ITCZ leading Cariaco temperatures by 3 months. However, these correlations were low, indicating that other factors than the position of ITCZ latitudinal position play bigger role on the Cariaco basin upwelling variability. Interannual variability in oceanographic and meteorological characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean are expected as a result of large-scale changes in other regions of the world, including due to changes such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Six oceanic-atmospheric variables are used to monitor ENSO over the tropical Pacific, while the AMO is determined by monitoring SST over the Atlantic. Correlations with lags of up to ± 6 months were conducted with those climate indices and the anomalies of the median monthly latitudinal position of the ITCZ. Significant direct correlations with ENSO (Multivariate ENSO Index) were seen in the Atlantic and Western Atlantic (r = 0.15), with ENSO leading the position of the ITCZ anomalies by 3 months. This implies that within three months after an El Niño event (warm ENSO anomaly in the Pacific) the ITCZ over the mid-Atlantic and Western Atlantic Ocean tends to shift to a more northerly position. The AMO also had a direct influence on the anomalies of the ITCZ position (r = 0.13) in the Central and the Western Atlantic, with the AMO leading ITCZ anomalies by 1 month (i.e. a warming of the North Atlantic led to a northward shift in the ITCZ one month later). Correlations between AMO and the ITCZ anomalies in the Eastern Atlantic were also direct but with no lag. Although significant, these correlations were low. An inverse correlation (~ -0.35) was found between ENSO and anomalies of water temperature of the Cariaco Basin. ENSO lagged ocean temperature anomalies by 3 to 4 months for both the whole Cariaco time series and for the upwelling months of CARIACO data. Correlations with AMO were direct (~ 0.4); for the whole time series AMO led Cariaco temperature anomalies by 3 months, but for the upwelling months AMO lagged Cariaco temperature anomalies by one month.

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Poggemann, David-Willem [Verfasser], Dirk [Akademischer Betreuer] Nürnberg, and Martin [Gutachter] Frank. "Role of intermediate water variability in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in deglacial climate change / David-Willem Poggemann ; Gutachter: Martin Frank ; Betreuer: Dirk Nürnberg." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2017. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:8-diss-209579.

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27

Isaacs, Wainella. "Opportunities to Mainstream Gender in Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects: A Case Study in Barbados." Scholar Commons, 2017. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6621.

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According to the World Resources Institute, Barbados is one of seven Caribbean countries ranked as being the most water stressed territories in the world. Prevailing drought conditions for the period 2010-2016 further compromised its water security while confirming predictions of a drier regional Caribbean climate. The simultaneous failing of at least 50-year-old water infrastructure at many points in the distribution network adds to these water stress conditions, and presents a financial burden to the local water utility in the form of lost revenues, and increased energy consumption for pumping. Climate change and its impacts are not gender-neutral, and water infrastructure projects developed to mitigate and or adapt to climate change impacts will have different degrees of gender dimensions, based on the social and economic contexts within which populations are embedded. Incorporating gender differences in climate projects is smart economics, and as such the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the first international fund to mandate the integration of a “gender-sensitive approach” throughout project life cycles. The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) is applying, with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (5Cs), for funding from the Green Climate Fund to pursue an Energy-Water-Nutrient Nexus for Sustainable Coastal Infrastructure (EWN-SCI) project. The proposed project will develop an interdisciplinary program in Barbados that implements demonstration sites with integrated water supply, resource recovery, and renewable energy management systems that are designed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, support climate change adaptation strategies, build technical capacity in the Caribbean region, and share lessons learnt with the rest of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries. The overall goal of this research is to present practical guidelines, and approaches to mainstream and operationalize gender throughout the life cycle of water and wastewater infrastructure projects using an Energy Water Nutrient nexus project in Barbados. The objectives to guide this research are (1) to determine the institutional and legal frameworks that inform the types and extent of gender mainstreaming activities to be incorporated in the development of water and wastewater climate infrastructure projects in Barbados, (2) to characterize the current landscape for integrating gender into the design and management of water and wastewater infrastructure in Barbados, and (3) evaluate and recommend opportunities for gender integration in the life cycle of water and wastewater infrastructure in Barbados. Literature and tools for categorization of the gender dimensions of water and wastewater infrastructure (centralized and decentralized) projects in Small Island Developing States, and particularly Caribbean nations to determine the scope, and type of appropriate gender mainstreaming activities are limited. In the literature, gender equality as a goal of climate financing mechanisms was introduced retroactively for several multilateral climate funds due to sub-optimal project outcomes from gender blind projects. Projects implemented by these funds globally, post inclusion of explicit gender equality outcomes can provide direct, or indirect guidance on appropriate gender mainstreaming activities to be included in the development of water and wastewater infrastructure projects in Barbados. Case studies on water and sanitation gender vulnerabilities in Jamaica provide one of the few ideal sources of information on Caribbean gender mainstreaming activities. To inform objective 1, literature on Barbados’ population, socio-economic statistics, and national gender and climate change policies was used to determine the status and scope of institutional and legal commitments to gender mainstreaming the development of water and wastewater climate adaptive infrastructure in Barbados. To satisfy objective 2, a gender profile of technical and leadership roles at the BWA was created, and social media information, results of a water user survey, focus groups and interviews were analyzed to gain cultural context, and community insight on existing gender inequalities, impacts resulting from the types of water infrastructure projects pursued and their methods of implementation. The survey, focus groups and interviews were conducted in Barbados during the period 10/20/16 to 11/8/16. This period was characterized by unprecedented water shortages and interruptions which were reflected in the feedback from the data analysis. For objective 3, gender impacts of the infrastructural components of the EWN-SCI projects were described, and opportunities to address these concerns across the individual infrastructure project cycles were proposed. There are currently no legislative commitments to gender equality in water and wastewater resources management in Barbados. A Draft National Policy on Gender is presently before parliament but the policy does not address gender and water. The BWA has more men than women employed in technical (45% vs 3.5%), and leadership (9.1% vs 3.9%) roles which directly contribute to the design and management of the utility’s projects. Most of these individuals are in the middle or near the end of their careers (> 40 years of age), and thus present a timely opportunity to recruit, train and promote women to fill these roles. On social media (Facebook and Twitter), many individuals described the challenges experienced during the water shortages. Individuals also criticized the BWA for their lack of communication during this period. The lack of an online presence by the BWA represented a lost opportunity to engage its stakeholders on collaborative solutions that could temporarily or permanently alleviate the challenges. The water user survey revealed a statistical significant association (p ≤ 0.05) between gender and type of water storage container used at the household level. Men were more likely than women to report use of larger plastic buckets and tanks, while women showed a preference for smaller buckets and bottles. Identification and consideration of design parameters such as preference for type and size of storage receptacle, system elevation, position of cleaning access point, and need for a pump will facilitate or limit the successful adoption or adaptation of rainwater harvesting systems. The proposition of a research arm of the utility that could study gender dimensions of health impacts of water quality and water interruptions, and economic studies assessing feasibility of introducing a tariff structure on water provision were priority projects from the BWA. Investment in equipment at the national government lab, and at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Chemistry Department represents a skills building and economic empowerment opportunity for women who form the bulk of workforce at these institutions. The key recommendations identified from the Gender Impact Assessment for the model EWN-SCI Projects were to the need to identify clear gender objectives and targets prior to project implementation to ensure their incorporation in the project. Budgetary allocations to appoint a gender focal point who would coordinate these activities are also recommended. Job creation is one the main areas for distribution of project benefits for the EWN-SCI Project. Since the current skillsets for technical jobs at the BWA bias allotment to men, and at the UWI Chemistry Department there is bias in favor of women, targeted training and recruitment should be aimed at the under-represented sex for each position. Additionally the inclusion of socio-economic information as a criterion for prioritization of locations for intervention was recommended.

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Hetzinger, Steffen [Verfasser]. "Stable oxygen isotopes and Sr-Ca-ratios in modern Diploria strigosa corals from different sites in the Caribbean Sea : evaluation of a new climate archive for the tropical Atlantic = Stabile Sauerstoffisotope und Sr-Ca-Elementverteilung in rezenten Diploria-strigosa-Korallen von verschiedenen Lokationen in der Karibik / Steffen Hetzinger." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2010. http://d-nb.info/1019952245/34.

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Iglesias, Marisa Carmen. "Hospitable Climates: Representations of the West Indies in Eighteenth-Century British Literature." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6516.

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British expansion to the West Indies in the eighteenth-century resulted in vast economic growth for the British Empire and a rise in literature set in the region. Examining the literature allows for an in-depth exploration of how the Caribbean has become associated as a place of relaxation and escape though its early history of colonialism is fraught with violence. My study builds on the understanding of the Caribbean region in the eighteenth-century and utilizes hospitality theory to articulate the role that cultural exchange and physical setting play in the texts and in the formation of national identity, both in the West Indies and in England. Using hospitality theory to explore how power shifts between the guest/host/witness, I explore the influence of literature on eighteenth-century perceptions of this region through an examination of the patterns that develop through prose fiction, drama, and poetry. Section one includes Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko (1696), Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) and William Pittis’ The Jamaica Lady (1720). I argue that Behn’s work establishes narrative patterns that uncover what eighteenth-century travelers imagined in the West Indies—the host welcomes the outsider, the land serves as witness, and the arrival of the guest initiates a realignment of the British subjectivity—and show how these patterns reappear in the later works of Defoe and Pittis. In the section two, I show that the theatre creates a shift in these categories as a direct result of space, performance, and shared experience through my readings of Thomas Southerne’s Oroonoko (1696), Richard Cumberland’s The West Indian (1771), and John Gay’s Polly (1728). The final section focuses on the poetry of James Grainger, Nathaniel Weekes, and Francis Williams, revealing the tropes that emerged and demonstrating how the Caribbean land is visualized as a welcoming space. I argue that these genres work together to generate images of the tropics in the eighteenth-century British mindset and provide a foundation for the way we have come to imagine this region today.

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Rivera-Collazo, I. "Between land and sea in Puerto Rico : climates, coastal landscapes and human occupations in the mid-Holocene Caribbean." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2011. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1331902/.

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Modern human-induced climate change will have a particularly adverse impact on coastal non-industrial societies. Understanding how such changes have occurred in the past can provide better tools to address social vulnerability in these contexts. The main goal of this thesis is to consider how past non-industrial societies responded to environmental change and which conditions affected their sustainability. Here I investigate Mid-Holocene climate change and its relationship to the earliest human occupations in the Caribbean Archipelago (pre-Arawak period), using the site of Angostura (Puerto Rico) as a case study. On-site geoarchaeological tests – including microartefact and bulk-sediment analyses – were selected to study site-formation processes. Off-site sediment cores were collected and studied to address sea-level and landscape change. Archaeomalacological analysis assessed subsistence behaviour and landscape ecology. An assemblage of 18 radiocarbon dates was used to provide chronological context. To consider the dynamic and complex relationship between people and the environment, I apply the Theory of Adaptive Change (TAC) as a model to articulate scale-shifting and facilitate intra-scale comparison of biotic, abiotic and cultural elements. The various analyses show that significant environmental changes occurred during the pre-Arawak, but this had no negative effect on cultural systems. Long-distance webs of interaction, diet diversification, and landscape domestication enabled flexibility to adapt and respond successfully to change. Increasingly inflexible ‘home range’ boundaries and enhanced meso-scale rigidity lowered overall resilience of the cultural system, increasing its sensitivity to long-term landscape change. This vulnerability, however, was social; not an innate effect of changes in the environment. This observation helped identify four aspects that condition social vulnerability to change: territorial boundaries, ecosystem biodiversity, dependence on spatial configuration of landscapes, and knowledge. Understanding the interconnection between systems and their multiple nested interrelations can help develop a better understanding of the complexity of change and the meaning of sustainability within socio-natural systems.

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Charles, Curtis B. "The use of daylight in the design of a controlled environment for food production in the Caribbean and other equatorial climates." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34306.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1989. Title as it appeared in M.I.T. Graduate List, June 1989: The use of daylighting in the design of a controlled environment for food reduction in the Caribbean and other equatorial climates. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-224). This thesis addresses the use of daylight in the design of a controlled environment for food production in the Caribbean and other Equatorial climates. An expanding population has put a tremendous burden on the food production industry in these climates. The increasing population in these climates means that existing fertile land is being taken-over for housing and infrastructure. Furthermore, the fishing industry is also a victim of over-fishing due to a need for alternative foods. This design proposes a technological solution to this social problem. Presented is one answer to improve the fishing industry, through a controlled environment for intensive aquaculture production. To improve crop production due to depleting fertile land and flooding, this thesis proposes hydroponic cultures in multi-stories. In addition, the success of this farming complex is dependent on appropriate research by staffed scientists, seeking to continually improve the end products of this facility. Within this ecosystem, far greater yields will be attained than traditional forms of agriculture, and, aquaculture. The challenge here is to present the most economic solution. As a result, the design of this facility is based on a three-level hydroponic (crops growing in a nutrient solution) facility, a fish hatchery, indoor fish ponds, and, research laboratories within the aquaculture and hydroponic facilities. This thesis presents two design solutions :one on land, that addresses the issues of flooding and a depletion of available fertile land, and one at sea, that addresses a time in which the population has grown to such a degree that food production at sea becomes an economic reality. There are many ways to introduce natural daylight into this proposed farming complex. Intensive research has indicated that these methods can often range from the very simplistic to the very intricate, as displayed in new emerging technologies such as the Himawari system developed by La Foret Engineering, of Japan. However, the following are techniques that will be applied in this thesis to bring daylight into the buildings of this proposed farming complex : 1. Optical lighting Himawari system); 2. Perimeter lighting; 3. Reflective lighting; 4. Top/Core lighting. Research has indicated that even during the rainy season (July to December)- in some of these equatorial climates there is adequate available diffused sunlight to reach the crops and aquatic life within this proposed controlled environment. This thesis also addresses the energy and cooling load requirements that result from the use of daylighting. Once again the most economic design is presented in this case study. However, the resulting economic solution ( to meet the cooling loads ) that is presented for the proposed site in Trinidad, may not be the most desirable solution for other equatorial climates. Consequently, wind energy, solar energy, co-generation, and traditional electricity, are all analyzed. by Curtis B. Charles. M.S.

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Parra, Witte Falk Xué. "Living the law of origin : the cosmological, ontological, epistemological, and ecological framework of Kogi environmental politics." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/274896.

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This project engages with the Kogi, an Amerindian indigenous people from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northern Colombia. Kogi leaders have been engaging in a consistent ecological-political activism to protect the Sierra Nevada from environmentally harmful developments. More specifically, they have attempted to raise awareness and understanding among the wider public about why and how these activities are destructive according to their knowledge and relation to the world. The foreign nature of these underlying ontological understandings, statements, and practices, has created difficulties in conveying them to mainstream, scientific society. Furthermore, the pre-determined cosmological foundations of Kogi society, continuously asserted by them, present a problem to anthropology in terms of suitable analytical categories. My work aims to clarify and understand Kogi environmental activism in their own terms, aided by anthropological concepts and “Western” forms of expression. I elucidate and explain how Kogi ecology and public politics are embedded in an old, integrated, and complex way of being, knowing, and perceiving on the Sierra Nevada. I argue that theoretically this task involves taking a realist approach that recognises the Kogi’s cause as intended truth claims of practical environmental relevance. By avoiding constructivist and interpretivist approaches, as well as the recent “ontological pluralism” in anthropology, I seek to do justice to the Kogi’s own essentialist and universalist ontological principles, which also implies following their epistemological rationale. For this purpose, I immersed myself for two years in Kogi life on the Sierra, and focused on structured learning sessions with three Mamas, Kogi spiritual leaders and knowledge specialists. I reflect on how this interaction was possible because my project was compatible with the Mamas’ own desire to clarify and contextualise the Kogi ecological cause. After presenting this experience, I analyse the material as a multifaceted, interrelated, and elaborate system to reflect the organic, structured composition of Kogi and Sierra, also consciously conveyed as such by the Mamas. I hereby intend to show how the Kogi reproduce, live, and sustain this system through daily practices and institutions, and according to cosmological principles that guide a knowledgeable, ecological relationality with things, called ‘the Law of Origin’. To describe this system, I develop a correspondingly holistic and necessary integration of the anthropological concepts of cosmology, ontology, epistemology, and ecology. Based on this, I argue that Kogi eco-politics are equally embedded in this system, and constitute a contemporary attempt to maintain their regulatory relations with the Sierra Nevada and complement their everyday care-taking practices and rituals. In Kogi terms, this continuity and coherence is a moral imperative and environmental necessity. Thus framing and clarifying Kogi eco-politics may enrich insights into the nature of indigenous ecological knowledge, and may help address environmental problems.

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Pastel, Audrey. "L’adaptation au changement climatique : moteur de recomposition spatiale ? : Vers une meilleure résilience à la Martinique ?" Electronic Thesis or Diss., Antilles, 2023. http://www.theses.fr/2023ANTI1004.

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Dans un contexte de dérèglement climatique qui conduit à une accélération de l’élévation du niveau de la mer et à une intensification des cyclones tropicaux, la vulnérabilité des espaces littoraux est accrue, à l’échelle mondiale. Les territoires insulaires sont encore plus sensibles à ces phénomènes qui pourraient remettre en cause leur aménagement. De ce fait, renforcer leur capacité d’adaptation est cruciale.Cette thèse de doctorat en géographie-aménagement de l’espace mesure l’influence de l’adaptation au changement climatique sur la production spatiale en milieu insulaire tropicale. Elle étudie plus particulièrement les modalités de déclinaison d’une stratégie d’adaptation locale comprenant une recomposition spatiale à l’échelle de la Martinique, un territoire français, situé dans la Caraïbe.L’objet de cette recherche est de penser l’anticipation des conséquences du changement climatique sur des territoires insulaires français de la Caraïbe, afin d’améliorer leur résilience et ce, à travers le renouvellement de la gestion foncière.Nos démarches d’investigations s’appuient sur une combinaison de méthodes complémentaires, empruntées aux sciences sociales : terrain exploratoire, entretiens semi-directifs, analyse des discours, observation-participante, analyse documentaire, études de cas et cartographie.Dans un souci d’appropriation et d’opérationnalité de nos résultats, nous nous sommes intéressés aux outils et méthodes utilisés, ainsi qu’aux stratégies élaborées et mises en œuvre par les acteurs de l’aménagement (pratiques du terrain).Nos résultats sont les suivants :1° Même si de multiples crises socio-économiques et naturelles ont généré des recompositions spatiales à l’échelle de la Martinique, la perception de la vulnérabilité à l’élévation du niveau de la mer et aux houles cycloniques par les techniciens n’a pas entraîné l’élaboration d’une nouvelle stratégie d’aménagement comprenant une recomposition spatiale en Martinique. La perception du changement climatique ne semble pas avoir été un facteur déclencheur.2° La Stratégie Nationale de Gestion Intégrée du Trait de Côte 2012-2015 puis 2017-2019 érige en doctrine la recomposition spatiale et prévoit une déclinaison régionale. Excepté l’expérimentation du Prêcheur lancée dans une situation d’urgence, l’«injonction douce» de la SNGITC n’a pas entraîné de généralisation des recompositions spatiales à l’échelle de la Martinique. Des freins organisationnel, partenarial, institutionnel, ou politique ont été identifiés.3° L’élaboration d’une stratégie foncière est essentielle pour mettre en œuvre une recomposition spatiale. Or, les outils et méthodes de l’aménagement actuels pour la déployer sont inexistants, obsolètes ou inadaptés. Leur refonte est donc indispensable. Des dynamiques internes (évolution des stratégies des acteurs) et externes témoignent qu’une refonte est déjà enclenchée.4° Contrairement à la Stratégie Nationale de Gestion Intégrée du Trait de Côte, la LOI du 22 août 2021 portant lutte contre le dérèglement climatique et renforcement de la résilience face à ses effets, dite Loi «Climat et Résilience», constitue une «injonction ferme» à la recomposition spatiale des territoires impactés par le recul du trait de côte. Elle modifie les outils et méthodes existants et en crée de nouveaux. Nous avons formulé des préconisations pour pallier les lacunes qui persistent.5° L’adaptation au changement climatique bouleverse les pratiques de l’aménagement de l’espace et oblige à un renouvellement de l’ingénierie territoriale. La formation, la mobilisation et la valorisation de l’expertise locale sont essentielles. La formation et la spécialisation des structures qui accompagnent les acteurs locaux le sont aussi, sinon elles peuvent freiner l’élaboration de stratégies d’adaptation en cohérence avec la réalité insulaire et favoriser des «maladaptations». Enfin, l’observation du terrain nous a conduit à proposer un nouveau concept : le «consulting touristique» In the context of climate disruption leading to accelerated sea-level rise and intensified tropical cyclones, the vulnerability of coastal areas is heightened globally. Island territories are even more susceptible to these phenomena, which could challenge their development. Consequently, reinforcing their adaptive capacity is crucial.This doctoral thesis in spatial planning assesses the influence of climate change adaptation on spatial production in tropical island environments. It specifically examines the implementation of a local adaptation strategy, including spatial reconfiguration, on the scale of Martinique, a French territory in the Caribbean.The objective of this research is to anticipate the consequences of climate change on French Caribbean island territories to enhance their resilience, primarily through the renewal of land management.Our investigative approach relies on a combination of complementary methods borrowed from the social sciences: exploratory fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, discourse analysis, participant observation, documentary analysis, case studies, and cartography.With a focus on the appropriation and operationalization of our results, we delve into the tools and methods used, as well as the strategies devised and implemented by planning actors (field practices).Our findings are as follows:1° Despite numerous socio-economic and natural crises leading to spatial reconfigurations in Martinique, technicians' perception of vulnerability to sea-level rise and cyclonic swells did not prompt the development of a new planning strategy involving spatial reconfiguration in Martinique. The perception of climate change does not appear to have been a triggering factor.2° The National Integrated Coastal Zone Management Strategy 2012-2015 and then 2017-2019 establishes spatial reconfiguration as doctrine and anticipates regional implementation. Except for the emergency situation experiment in Le Prêcheur, the "soft injunction" of the NICZMS did not lead to the widespread of spatial reconfigurations in Martinique. Organizational, partnership, institutional, or political barriers were identified.3° Formulating a land strategy is essential for implementing spatial reconfiguration. However, current planning tools and methods for deployment are either non-existent, obsolete, or inadequate. Their overhaul is indispensable. Internal (evolution of actors' strategies) and external dynamics indicate that a redesign is already underway.4° In contrast to the National Integrated Coastal Zone Management Strategy, the Law of August 22, 2021, combating climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects, known as the "Climate and Resilience" Law, constitutes a "firm injunction" for spatial reconfiguration of territories impacted by coastal retreat. It modifies existing tools and methods and introduces new ones. We have formulated recommendations to address persisting gaps.5° Climate change adaptation disrupts spatial planning practices and necessitates a renewal of territorial engineering. Training, mobilization, and valorization of local expertise are essential. The training and specialization of structures supporting local actors are also crucial, as they can otherwise impede the development of adaptation strategies in coherence with island reality and encourage "maladaptations". Finally, field observation has led us to propose a new concept: "touristic consulting”

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Southard, Nicole. "The Socio-Political and Economic Causes of Natural Disasters." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1720.

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To effectively prevent and mitigate the outbreak of natural disasters is a more pressing issue in the twenty-first century than ever before. The frequency and cost of natural disasters is rising globally, most especially in developing countries where the most severe effects of climate change are felt. However, while climate change is indeed a strong force impacting the severity of contemporary catastrophes, it is not directly responsible for the exorbitant cost of the damage and suffering incurred from natural disasters -- both financially and in terms of human life. Rather, the true root causes of natural disasters lie within the power systems at play in any given society when these regions come into contact with a hazard event. Historic processes of isolation, oppression, and exploitation, combined with contemporary international power systems, interact in complex ways to affect different socioeconomic classes distinctly. The result is to create vulnerability and scarcity among the most defenseless communities. These processes affect a society’s ideological orientation and their cultural norms, empowering some while isolating others. When the resulting dynamic socio-political pressures and root causes come into contact with a natural hazard, a disaster is likely to follow due to the high vulnerability of certain groups and their inability to adapt as conditions change. In this light, the following discussion exposes the anthropogenic roots of natural disasters by conducting a detailed case analysis of natural disasters in Haiti, Ethiopia, and Nepal.

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Cassin, Lesly. "Développement, dynamiques démographiques et environnement dans les Petits Etats Insulaires des Caraïbes." Thesis, Paris 10, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019PA100114.

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Les Petits Etats Insulaires en Développement (PEID) des Caraïbes font face à des défis pour soutenir leur croissance, du fait de leurs vulnérabilités économiques et environnementales. En mobilisant des analyses théoriques et numériques, cette thèse examine la situation de ces PEID en se concentrant sur les interactions entre démographie et limites environnementales. Ici la migration et les rémittences, qui sont centrales pour ces pays, sont étudiées avec les pollutions locales et le changement climatique.Premièrement, j'étudie l'impact des rémittences sur les choix d'épargne en intégrant les stratégies familiales en termes de fertilité et d'éducation. Je démontre que l'impact positif de transferts intergénérationnels ou de rémittences dépend de l'accumulation du capital humain qui doit être plus rapide que l'accroissement de la fertilité généré par la migration.Deuxièmement, l'acquisition de capital humain dépend aussi de l'environnement dans lequel les agents évoluent. J'étudie donc les interactions entre exposition à la pollution durant l'enfance, accumulation de capital humain et gains de la migration. Ici, une forte migration peut réduire la pression démographique sur l'environnement et générer des gains économiques sous des conditions qui diffèrent du cas sans pollution. Dans tous les cas, il est aussi souhaitable de mettre en place une politique environnementale.Enfin, les PEID doivent s'adapter au changement climatique pour assurer leur développement, ce qui est coûteux. J'étudie alors la migration comme méthode alternative pour l'adaptation au changement climatique. Les rémittences générées par la migration pouvant financer l'adaptation conventionnelle, il s'agira d'établir à quelles conditions il y a substituabilité ou complémentarité entre les deux Sustainable development in Caribbean Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) is difficult to obtain because of their economic and social vulnerabilities. This thesis examines the sustainable resource allocation and economic growth of Caribbean SIDS using theoretical and numerical methods, and focusing on interactions between demographic and environmental dimensions. Due to their regional importance, I examine the effects of migration and remittances while taking into account local pollution and climate change.First, I describe the impacts of remittances on savings, fertility and education, with a special focus on intergenerational strategies. I show that potential positive effects from migration or remittances depend strongly on its positive effect on human capital accumulation, i.e. whether it is larger or not than the population growth.Because human capital accumulation also depends on the environment, in the second chapter I study the potential interactions between migration gains and environmental quality. If pollution exposure during childhood harms the human capital process, first there are new conditions for gains from migration which can decrease the demographic pressure on natural assets, second an environmental policy is beneficial.Finally, Caribbean SIDS cannot reduce the extent of climate change, leaving them no choice but to adapt to its effects, however this is costly and difficult to implement. The third chapter of this thesis addresses the use of migration, which leads to remittances that can fund adaptation measures. Therefore, I test whether there is a complementarity or a substitutability between the two strategies and show that it depend on the fundamentals of the economy

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Pentelow, Laurel Jean. "Climate Policy and International Tourism Arrivals to the Caribbean Region." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/4487.

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Increasingly the body of research shows that tourism is vulnerable to climate change. Tourism is also a non-negligible contributor to climate change, primarily through rapidly increasing air travel. Recently, a number of tourism destinations that are dependent on long-haul tourism have expressed concerns about the impact of climate policy (both implemented and proposed) on tourist mobility and arrivals to their countries. This thesis examines outcomes from a model which projects how climate mitigation policy could influence arrival numbers to the Caribbean region; an area projected to be disproportionately impacted by climate change. While impacts on this region are likely to be both physical as well as economical, mitigation policy restricting emissions from international aviation is likely to be the first wave of climate change effects felt. This policy, coupled with the fluctuation of global oil prices, may be a significant deterrent for travelers to the Caribbean. Different scenarios using likely mitigation policy costs on international flights and oil price fluctuations were modeled to understand how these tourism-dependent nations might fair with increases in travel cost due to conditions beyond their control. Both region-wide and destination specific results were examined showing that visitor numbers could decrease versus a business as usual scenario with climate policy and heightened oil prices, but not significantly until climate policy with deeper emission cuts and carbon prices higher than currently suggested are put in place. Result are not uniform across the region, and show that certain destinations are projected to be more vulnerable to climate mitigation policy than others. Recommendations focusing on both the aviation industry’s inclusion in climate policy and those to aid the region’s tourism sector are provided.

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Rutty, Michelle. "Weather and Climate for Coastal Tourism." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/8500.

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Weather and climate serve as an important travel motivator, influencing destination choice, the timing of travel, travel expenditures and overall trip satisfaction. Climatic resources are a defining factor in destination attractiveness and are a key element of the natural resource base of a destination that can be classified along a spectrum from ideal to unacceptable. A growing literature has sought to measure, evaluate and assess climate resources for tourism, both generally and for specific tourism market segments. A direct impact of climate change on tourism will be the global redistribution of climatic resources. This would change the length and quality of climate-sensitive tourism seasons, affecting both the temporal and spatial distribution of domestic and international tourism flows and spending. Studies have revealed a generally consistent temporal and geographical pattern of climate change impacts on global tourism. As the 21st century progresses, there is anticipated to be a pronounced shift in thermal comfort (and thereby tourism demand) towards higher latitudes and away from sub-tropical and tropical destinations. This would have a substantial impact on the tourism-intensive economy of the Caribbean, as the vast majority of the region’s attractions are based on weather- and climate-dependent 3S (sun, sea, sand) tourism. However, the assertion that major coastal tourism destinations, such as the Caribbean, will become seasonally ‘too hot’ for tourism has been questioned because the literature has not established what tourists to these regions perceive to be thermally unacceptable for coastal tourism activities. In addition, existing climate and tourism assessments do not account for the microclimatic conditions where tourism activities take place. With the inextricable dependency between 3S tourism and favourable weather conditions in the coastal zone, it is important to understand both how tourists perceive and evaluate climatic resources, particularly those conditions that are most preferred or avoided (i.e., trigger behavioural responses), as well as examine the adaptive climatic range tourists’ can experience within a coastal setting. Such information is a prerequisite if accurate projections are to be made about changes in tourism demand as a result of climate variability or future climate change. This dissertation proposes a conceptual framework that integrates the multiple facets known to influence tourists’ evaluation of climatic resources, as well as tourists’ responses to holiday weather conditions. The research advances weather and climate resource assessments for tourism by improving our understanding of the complex relationship between personal and meteorological parameters that influence tourists’ climatic preferences and thresholds for coastal tourism. This was achieved through concurrent meteorological measurements and in situ surveys with 472 beach tourists in the Caribbean islands of Barbados, Saint Lucia and Tobago. The results from this study reveal that tourists’ optimal and unacceptable climatic conditions are dependent on several interpersonal factors, with statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) found based on gender, age, and climatic region of origin. Thermal comfort expectations and perceived thermal control were also found to be key contextual considerations that enable beach tourists’ to not only be exposed to, but to prefer, thermal conditions that elicit strong to very strong heat stress. This indicates that conventional evaluation systems of thermal comfort (e.g., PET, UTCI) cannot be applied to 3S tourists without modification. This research also highlights the importance of microclimatic conditions when evaluating weather and climate for tourism, with thermo-physiological comfort varying up to 4°C within a coastal resort setting. The results from this research can be incorporated into existing climate indices and climate change assessments to allow for more robust projections of tourism demand, as well as used in various decision-making contexts by both tourists (e.g., plan best time/place to travel, plan appropriate accommodation, attire, transportation and activity schedule) and the tourism industry (e.g., marketing strategies, risk assessment, operational decision making, infrastructure planning and development).

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Caffrey, Maria Anne. "Holocene Climate and Environmental History of Laguna Saladilla, Dominican Republic." 2011. http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/955.

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Stratigraphic analyses of lacustrine sediments provide powerful tools for reconstructing past environments. The records that result from these analyses are key to understanding present-day climate mechanisms and how the natural environment may respond to anthropogenic climate change in the future. This doctoral dissertation research investigates climate and environmental history at Laguna Saladilla (19° [degrees] 39' N, 71° [degrees] 42' W; ca. 2 masl), a large (220 ha) lake along the north coast of Hispaniola. I reconstructed changes in vegetation and environmental conditions over the mid to late Holocene based on pollen, microscopic charcoal, and diatoms in an 8.51 m sediment core recovered from the lake in 2001. Fieldwork in December 2009 included the use of ground penetrating radar to identify subaqueous deltas that indicate past positions of the Masacre river, which flows into the lake from the Cordillera Central. Laguna Saladilla was deeper and more saline from the base of the sediment profile approximately 8030 cal yr BP to about 3500 cal yr BP. Mangrove (Rhizophora) pollen percentages were highest around 7650 cal yr BP, when mollusk shells in the core suggest marine conditions. The lake became progressively brackish ca. 3500 cal yr BP, followed by a transition ca. 2500 cal yr BP to its current freshwater state. This shift in water chemistry was likely due in part to a change in the position of the Masacre river. Diatoms show that lake levels decreased as evaporation/precipitation ratios increased. Amaranthaceae and other herbs dominated the pollen record under the drier conditions of the last 2500 cal yr BP; pollen of fire-adapted taxa, particularly Pinus, increased in the last 800 years. Patterns of microscopic charcoal influx at Laguna Saladilla over the Holocene are similar to patterns at Lake Miragoane, Haiti and Laguna Tortuguero, Puerto Rico. The changes in fire frequency or extent indicated by these Caribbean charcoal records may be driven by increased winter insolation at ca. 5000 cal yr BP that led to earlier winter drying. Comparing the charcoal record to archeological data and other paleoenvironmental records facilitated the disentangling of changes in climate from anthropogenic impacts.

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Martin, Elinor Ruth. "Caribbean Precipitation in Observations and IPCC AR4 Models." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-08-9933.

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A census of 24 coupled (CMIP) and 13 uncoupled (AMIP) models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth assessment report (AR4) were compared with observations and reanalysis to show varied ability of the models to simulate Caribbean precipitation and mechanisms related to precipitation in the region. Not only were errors seen in the annual mean, with CMIP models underestimating both rainfall and sea surface temperature (SST) and AMIP models overestimating rainfall, the annual cycle was also incorrect. Large overestimates of precipitation at all SSTs (and particularly above 28 degrees C) and at vertical circulations less than -10 hPa/day (the deep convective regime) were inherent in the atmospheric models with models using spectral type convective parameterizations performing best. In coupled models, however, errors in the frequency of occurrence of SSTs (the distribution is cold biased) and deep convective vertical circulations (reduced frequency) lead to an underestimation of Caribbean mean precipitation. On daily timescales, the models were shown to produce too frequent light rainfall amounts (especially less than 1 mm/day) and dry extremes and too few heavy rainfall amounts and wet extremes. The simulation of the mid-summer drought (MSD) proved a challenge for the models, despite their ability to produce a Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ) in the correct location. Errors in the CLLJ, such as too strong magnitude and weak semi-annual cycle, were worse in the CMIP models and were attributed to problems with the location and seasonal evolution of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH) in both CMIP and AMIP models. Despite these discrepancies between models and observations, the ability of the models to simulate the correlation between the CLLJ and precipitation varied based on season and region, with the connection with United States precipitation particularly problematic in the AMIP simulations. An observational study of intraseasonal precipitation in the Caribbean showed an explicit connection between the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) and Caribbean precipitation for the first time. Precipitation anomalies up to 50 percent above (below) the annual mean are observed in phases 1 and 2 (5 and 6) of the MJO and are related to changes in the CLLJ, that is also modulated by the MJO. Considerable progress has been made on identifying both problems and successes in the simulation of Caribbean climate in general circulation models, but many areas still require investigation.

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Fensterer, Claudia [Verfasser]. "Holocene Caribbean climate variability reconstructed from speleothems from western Cuba / presented by Claudia Fensterer." 2011. http://d-nb.info/1010696904/34.

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Wagner, Amy Jo. "Oxygen and Carbon Isotopes and Coral Growth in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea as Environmental and Climate Indicators." 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-12-7260.

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The Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea comprise a sensitive and important region, both oceanographically and climatically. A better understanding of the history of climate and marine environmental conditions in this region provides valuable insight into the processes that affect climate globally. This dissertation furthers our understanding of these factors via investigations of the isotopes of corals and seawater, as well as coral growth. Results improve our understanding of how the isotope and coral growth records from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea reflect recent environmental conditions, enhancing our ability to reconstruct the history of climate in this important region. Analysis of the relationship between salinity and oxygen isotopic composition of seawater from the Texas/Louisiana continental shelf and Flower Garden Banks yield improved understanding of the relative contribution of the fresh water sources into the northern Gulf of Mexico, and also the oxygen isotopic composition of open-ocean seawater in this region. Variations in the growth of long-lived coral cores from the Flower Garden Banks are compared to local and regional climate conditions, particularly winter air temperatures. During the latter half of the twentieth century, a close correlation has existed between slow coral growth and cold wintertime air temperatures along the Gulf Coast, which are due to a meridional orientation of the North American jet stream (associated with the Pacific/North American climate pattern). Existing long coral growth records are too limited to assess this relationship during earlier years. Knowledge of the marine radiocarbon (14C) reservoir age is important for understanding carbon cycling and calibrating the radiocarbon ages of marine samples. Radiocarbon concentrations in corals from the Flower Garden Banks, Veracruz, and the Cariaco Basin are measured and used to determine the surface ocean 14C reservoir ages for the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Results also indicate that the post-nuclear weapons testing Delta 14-C values of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea differ. This difference is attributed to the advection of 14C-depleted surface water from the Southern Hemisphere into the Caribbean Sea. The results reported in this dissertation provide valuable information for understanding the marine environment when using carbonate proxies to study and reconstruct past climate and marine conditions in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.

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Sim, Ryan. "Assessing the Impacts of Sea Level Rise in the Caribbean using Geographic Information Systems." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/6319.

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Numerous studies project that climate change will accelerate the rise in global sea levels, leading to increased coastal inundation, greater potential damage from storm surge events, beach erosion and other coastal impacts which threaten vital infrastructure and facilities that currently support the economies of island nations. There is a broad consensus amongst experts that small island developing states (SIDS) face the greatest risk to the projected impacts of climate change. Unfortunately, few sea level rise (SLR) impact assessment studies have been conducted in SIDS due to the limitations of the geospatial data with regard to currency, accuracy, relevance and completeness. This research improves upon previous SLR impact assessment research by utilizing advanced global digital elevation models to create coastal inundation scenarios in one metre increments for 19 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nations and member states, and then examine the implications for seven key impact indicators (land area, population, economic activity, urban areas, tourism resorts, transportation infrastructure and beach erosion). The results indicate that a one metre SLR would have serious consequences for CARICOM nations. For example under this scenario over 10% of the 73 identified study area airports and 30% of the 266 major tourism resorts were identified as prone to flooding. Projected effects were not found to be uniform across the region; low-lying island nations and mainland countries with coastal plains below ten metres were identified as the most vulnerable countries. Recommendations for adaptive actions and policies are provided.

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García, M. S. Irlanda Joanna Espinosa, and 艾蘭妲. "Differential progress in the health-related measures to adapt to climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean." Thesis, 2015. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/qz3r3y.

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碩士 臺北醫學大學 全球衛生暨發展碩士學位學程 103 In the last decade, climate change has been recognized as one of the principal threats to health security, and an urgent area of research as well as action. To address this threat, mitigation and adaptation measures have been proposed, whereby adaptation is defined as “the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities” (IPCC, 2014). The implementation of adaptation measures in Latin America and the Caribbean will be essential to avoid an increase of climate risks to human health. To support and strengthen the current and future adaptation efforts carried out by the public health community of Latin America and the Caribbean, my study (1) assesses each country’s preparedness for climate change adaptation and thus assesses gaps in each country’s efforts for implementing adaptation measures, and (2) tests whether each country’s preparedness for climate change adaptation (assessed in part 1) is correlated with socio-economic variables of that country and the economic financial support for adaptation measures provided by international organizations. The gap analysis identified four countries which lag behind in identifying and being prepared for (1) health-related impacts, health-related adaptation measures, and stakeholders within society. My study specifically identified Belize, Bahamas, Barbados and Guatemala as countries whose preparedness for climate change adaptation is still insufficient. The statistical analysis found only one significant correlation, namely between the stakeholder score and loan percentage, which is probably explained by the recent trend to give risky financial support to countries with a high engagement of stakeholders. This is the first study to assess the climate change adaptation efforts of this region which focuses primarily on the measures which should be implemented by public health sector in collaboration with other societal sectors. Therefore, it is relevant for the recent efforts by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) which are trying to promote the involvement of the region’s health sector in efforts to implement measures for climate change adaptation. The complexity of the current situation makes it difficult to find any general trends emerging across countries, possibly because no common procedures and protocols have yet been agreed upon. Therefore, further education, discussion and planning among the various sectors of society are required to close the gaps identified by this study. My assessment should help to achieve convergence of adaptation measures taken by governments and civil society across the region.

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Robinson, Stacy-ann. "Climate change adaptation in small island developing states." Phd thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/118235.

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The impacts of climate change are already being experienced by the most vulnerable countries around the world, particularly small island developing states (SIDS). Many SIDS are isolated, and environmentally and economically exposed. Together, these 58 countries constitute a uniquely vulnerable grouping of developing countries whose national governments are prioritising climate change adaptation in order to ensure their sustainable development. In spite of the importance and urgency of adaptation for SIDS, there is little evidence in the academic literature about how these countries, as a whole and spread across the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea, Caribbean and Pacific regions, are adapting to climate change. This thesis helps to fill this gap. Prepared as a compilation of academic papers accepted for publication in leading peer-reviewed journals, this thesis takes a meta-paradigmatic, research-led, mixed methods, comparative case study approach to answering two primary questions—How are SIDS adapting to climate change at the national level? and What are the factors that affect adaptation at the national level in SIDS? There are eight sub-questions associated with the second primary question. These were derived from the answers to the first primary question. They explore the trends in and determinants of international adaptation financing to SIDS; the effectiveness of regional organisations coordinating adaptation responses across SIDS; the drivers of and barriers to mainstreaming adaptation into national development policies and programs in SIDS; and the nature and potential range of adaptation limits in SIDS. Key findings of this research include that: (1) SIDS are primarily engaged in the observation and assessment of climate variables and in education and knowledge management activities but less so in actual implementation, and monitoring and evaluation; (2) the allocation and sources of adaptation financing to SIDS are highly skewed and that governance quality is a strong determinant of adaptation financing to SIDS; (3) regional organisations are least effective in relation to their implementation and management of regional adaptation projects and programs across SIDS; (4) institutions and organisations, ‘champions’, personalities and informal networks, and risk and exposure are the main drivers of adaptation mainstreaming in SIDS; competing development priorities, poor planning and governance, and insufficient manpower and human resources are the main barriers; and (5) institutional constraints, as opposed to physical and ecological constraints, are potentially stronger drivers of adaptation limits in SIDS. This thesis makes a number of important contributions to the academic literature. These include: (1) offering one of the first cross-regional analyses of adaptation in SIDS; (2) documenting the experience of SIDS with accessing adaptation financing; (3) developing a framework for assessing the effectiveness of regional organisations coordinating adaptation in SIDS, which organisations can apply themselves; and (4) developing a seven-step process for practically achieving adaptation mainstreaming in SIDS. This body of work is especially useful for national governments, regional and international organisations as well as other actors involved in national-level climate change adaptation in SIDS—it highlights gaps in adaptation action requiring their attention.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Caribbean Climate'

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