Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Photo Credit: Paul Marshall

A new study has predicted that if current trends continue and the world fails to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nearly all of the world’s coral reefs, including many in the Caribbean, will suffer severe bleaching — the gravest threat to one of the Earth’s most important ecosystems — on annual basis.

The finding is part of a study funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners, which reviewed new climate change projections to predict which corals will be affected first and at what rate.

The report is published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. Researchers found that the reefs in Taiwan and the Turks and Caicos archipelago will be among the first to experience annual bleaching, followed by reefs off the coast of Bahrain, in Chile and in French Polynesia.

Calling the predictions “a treasure trove”…

“We have still time to avoid the worst of it, but we have already opened a number of flood gates, one in West Antarctica, and several in Greenland.” — Dr Eric Rignot.

“This kind of rifting behavior provides another mechanism for rapid retreat of these glaciers, adding to the probability that we may see significant collapse of West Antarctica in our lifetimes.” Ian Howat, Earth Sciences associate Professor at Ohio State University.

“Burning all the world’s coal, oil and gas would melt the entire Antarctic ice-sheet and cause the oceans to rise by over 50m, a transformation unprecedented in human history. The conclusion of a new scientific study shows that, over the course of centuries, land currently inhabited by a billion people would be lost below water.” — The Guardian.

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Massive Rift Forming in Larsen C

Larsen C. It’s the next big ice shelf on the…

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has received financing from the United States Agency for International Development/Eastern and Southern Caribbean (USAID/ESC) for the implementation of the project “Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP)” and intends to apply part of the proceeds towards payment under the contract for the Supply and Delivery of Fifty (50) Hydro-meteorological Stations, Contract #12/2016/USAID-ESC/CCCCC.

Peruse the officialtender dossier.

Tenders must be submitted using the format and instructions included in the tender dossier, which must be strictly observed.

Interested and eligible bidders may obtain further information from Ms. Allison Williams, Procurement Officer, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), Email: procurement@caribbeanclimate.bz, between the hours of 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday through Friday.

Deadline for submission of tenders is at 2:00 p.m. Belize time (GMT-6) on Monday, January 16, 2017. Any tender received after this deadline will not be considered.

Tender opening session…

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,134 mile long crude oil pipeline currently under construction from North Dakota to Illinois. Lakota and Dakota activists have established the Sacred Stone Camp in the path of the pipeline to halt its construction, drawing thousands of supporters from tribes across the continent.

This map shows the area around the Sacred Stone Camp with the proposed pipeline route, labelled with Lakota/Dakota place names and oriented to the South.

Map by Jordan Engel with assistance by Dakota Wind, thefirstscout.blogspot.com.

Íŋyaŋwakağapi Wakpá – Cannonball River “Stone-Make-For-Themselves River.”
Íŋyaŋ Wakháŋagapi Othí – Sacred Stone Camp / Cannon Ball, North Dakota
“Sacred Stone Camp.”
Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ – Standing Rock Reservation.
Mníšoše – Missouri River “Turbulent Water.”
Pȟá Šuŋg Wakpána – Horsehead Creek “Horse Head Creek.”
Zuzéča Sápa – Dakota Access Pipeline “Black Snake.”

PRESS RELEASE – Belmopan, Belize; November 22, 2016 – The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and the United States Agency for International Development for the Eastern and Southern Caribbean (USAID)/ESC launched the Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP) today, November 22, 2016, at the CCCCC’s headquarters in Belmopan, Belize. The CCAP, which will be implemented by the CCCCC, commits US$25.6 million over four (4) years to boost climate resilient development and reduce climate change induced risks to human and natural assets in ten (10) countries. The beneficiary countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname.

USAID’s Chief of Mission, Christopher Cushing, the wide array of stakeholders in attendance at the program launch stated that, “this partnership seeks to reduce the risks to human and natural assets resulting from climate variability in the Eastern…

The Marrakech Climate Change Conference commenced three days after the Paris Agreement entered into force. In a press conference preceding its opening, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said that dialogue and decisions in Marrakech have “immense potential” to “accelerate and amplify” the response to the climate challenge outlined in the Paris Agreement.

The Caribbean Water and Waste Water Association (CWWA) has signed an agreement with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) to establish a multi-sector partnership for climate services in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is now an accredited partner institution of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Through the accreditation, CDB now has better access to funding to support low-emission and climate-resilient programmes and projects in its borrowing member countries (BMCs).

“As an accredited partner institution of the GCF, CDB has the opportunity to mobilise and improve the flow of resources to its BMCs to tackle the pressing challenges of climate change. This accreditation will help us build on the work CDB is already doing to help communities across the Caribbean improve their resilience to natural hazards, reduce their electricity bills through the adoption of green energy solutions, and accelerate economic and social development across our region,” said Dr William Warren Smith, president, CDB.

As part of the accreditation process, CDB was assessed on a range of criteria against the standards of the GCF. The Fund examined the Bank’s policies…