The Caribbean must continue to build hydrological data to help inform its climate-change response and build resilience, acting director of the Met Office Shakeer Baig has advised.
'Knowledge of the region's hydrometeorological and climate information assist managing with challenges that many other tropical regions are facing," he explained.
'Climate-change projections for the Caribbean are quite dire, as we suggest, amongst other effects, increased annual rainfall (measurements) combined with an increase in the frequency and magnitude of the most intense tropical cycles, an increase in the propensity of heatwaves, droughts, flooding, landslides and associated impacts of these events on lives and livelihoods.'
Baig was speaking at a webinar last Wednesday held by the TT Meteorological Office to highlight some of its core functions as it joined worldwide celebrations of World Meteorological Day 2022.
This year's celebrations themed - Themed Early Warning and Early Action - recognised the important role of hydrometeorological and climate information in disaster-risk reduction.
Hydrology is the study of water distribution and movement both on and below the earth's surface. Hydrometeorology gives a closer look at hydrological (precipitation) cycles especially as they relate to the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere.
By continued development of the country's early warning systems, Baig said, the fallout of the effects of natural disasters can be mitigated. But this is just one puzzle piece, he said, and the public must also get involved to complete the picture.
He suggests, 'Early warning systems need to actively involve the people, and communities, at risk from a range of hazards.
'It needs to facilitate public education on awareness of risks, effectively disseminate messages and warnings and ensure there's a constant stage of preparedness and readiness.'
The Met Office's early warning systems include an agriculture forecast, a dryness and drought monitor and outlook, an El Niño and La Niña (climate patterns in the Pacific influencing weather) outlook, a health outlook, rainfall and temperature outlook and seasonal/sub seasonal forecasts.
Its adverse weather alert system was developed in accordance with the World Meteorological Organisation's globally standardised multi-hazard alert system. the Common Alerting Protocol.
'The TT Meteorological Service has embraced this initiative and have been utilising this system to issue colour-coded alerts and other warnings since 2018.
'We are also actively working with partners in the climate risk and early warning systems like the Global Framework for Climate Services to develop products and services towards enabling early warning and early action.'
As early warning systems facilitate 'ongoing communication between the public, disaster managers, government authorities and relief service providers beyond the onset of a disaster,' Baig said they can also assist in speedy disaster recovery.
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