The Precis Caribbean Story: Lessons and Legacies

Abstract

By the beginning of the current century, there was heightened recognition that the Caribbean is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Yet, there was very little climate change science information for the region and at the scale of the small islands that make up most of the region. To fill the gap, a group of regional scientists representing three institutions and four territories (Barbados, Belize, Cuba, and Jamaica) initiated a project to provide dynamically downscaled climate change information for the Caribbean. The Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies (PRECIS)-Caribbean initiative was premised on a shared workload with goals to build regional capacity to provide climate change information for the region from within the region, to provide much needed climate information in the shortest possible time frame, and to create a platform for sharing the information as widely as possible. Ten years later offers the opportunity for retrospection and evaluation, particularly since a phase 2 initiative is being formulated. By both accident and design, the legacies of the PRECIS-Caribbean initiative include i) the positioning of the Caribbean to pose and answer for itself some of the emerging second-generation climate change questions; ii) the emergence of a regional template for capacity building in the sciences through cooperation; iii) an expanded regional capacity to undertake climate science; and iv) a significant body of climate change and climate science knowledge relevant to and at the scale of the Caribbean region.

Staat van de natuur van Caribisch Nederland 2017 : een eerste beoordeling van de staat (van instandhouding), bedreigingen en managementimplicaties van habitats en soorten in Caribisch Nederland

“…Het downscalen vergroot echter de totale onzekerheid. In het kader van het PRECIS project (Providing Regional Climates for Impact Studies) werken Tailor et al (2013) aan een Caribisch regionaal model dat in de toekomst mogelijk meer betrouwbare gedetailleerde uitspraken kan doen voor de Cariben. De methode wordt toegepast in regionale trainingsworkshops.…”

Planning, the urban poor and climate change in Small Island Developing States (SIDS): unmitigated disaster or inclusive adaptation?

“…The regional models largely confirm the global trends regarding predicted changes in temperatures (resulting in coral bleaching and, with it, the destruction of natural ecosystems and increased incidence of vectorborne diseases) and precipitation (impacting as floods or as a decrease in fresh water resources and drying by the end of the century, so causing increased incidence of disease) (Taylor et al, 2013;Sealy, 2012). The regional models largely confirm the global trends regarding predicted changes in temperatures (resulting in coral bleaching and, with it, the destruction of natural ecosystems and increased incidence of vectorborne diseases) and precipitation (impacting as floods or as a decrease in fresh water resources and drying by the end of the century, so causing increased incidence of disease) (Taylor et al, 2013;Sealy, 2012).…”

Geographies of Caribbean Vulnerability in a Changing Climate: Issues and Trends

“…Up to the 1990s, very little research was conducted in the Caribbean that focused on climate change. Interest in, and awareness of, climate change and its possible negative impacts on regional states started to gain traction just over a decade ago triggered by a noticeable trend towards an abnormally active phase of North Atlantic hurricane activity (Taylor et al ). The little climate change science information that was known for the region then was obtained from global climate models (GCMs), the majority of which tended to paint a uniform picture of the Caribbean (see Houghton et al ; McClean and Tysban, ; Singh ; Wigley and Santer ).…”

“…The little climate change science information that was known for the region then was obtained from global climate models (GCMs), the majority of which tended to paint a uniform picture of the Caribbean (see Houghton et al ; McClean and Tysban, ; Singh ; Wigley and Santer ). While useful, a lot of the climate information and predictions generated from these global models were too coarse and generalized for the region's policy‐makers “who were increasingly demanding finer‐scale projections with sub‐regional and, if possible, island‐scale differentiation” (Taylor et al :1065). Since then, there has been significant progress made in advancing the region's climate science agenda (Charlery and Nurse ) – though significant knowledge asymmetries currently exist among regional states as it pertains to the collection, monitoring, modelling, and management of climate information.…”