Turks and Caicos Islands climate change
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Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Location
The Turks and Caicos Islands lie 575 miles (925 kilometers) southeast of Miami, Florida, nearly halfway between the Bahamas and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). In the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the country is made up of an archipelago of eight large islands and numerous minor cays. The white sand beaches and world-famous Grace Bay Beach on Providenciales are the island’s greatest claim to fame.
Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Background
The Turks and Caicos Islands climate, which are sandwiched between the Dominican Republic and the Tropic of Cancer, have a tropical climate that is hot all year, with a hotter and muggier season from May to October and a cooler season from December to March.
The temperature is hot all year: the daily average is roughly 23.5 degrees Celsius (74.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter and 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer. A chilly wind from the United States can lower the temperature by a few degrees from December to March, causing the night minimum to drop below 20 °C (68 °F). Summer is hot, but the breeze helps to cool things down. Cockburn Town, on the island of Grand Turk, has the following average temperatures.
In terms of rainfall, the archipelago is arid when compared to other Caribbean islands. Rainfall is roughly 700/750 millimeters (27/29 inches) every year, and the rainy season, which runs from May to October in the rest of the Caribbean, is shorter and earlier here, between September and December, and it isn’t particularly intense: the wettest month is November, with 120 millimeters (4.7 in).
The average precipitation is shown below.
Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change
Turks and Caicos Islands climate, the global climatic average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century, with a forecast rise of 2-11.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the next 100 years. Although minor and negligible increases in temperature may appear, they result in dramatic changes in climate, weather, and sea level rise.
Due to changes in precipitation, many locations have suffered increased floods, droughts, and severe storms in recent years. Because of climate change, ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, and oceans are getting more acidic.
When we consider the rising frequency and intensity of weather changes, we cannot ignore the current and future issues that our society, economy, and environment confront. “A rising climate will bring changes that can harm our water supplies, agriculture, electricity and transportation networks, the natural environment, and our health and safety,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (2013). As a result, our global economy is in jeopardy.
The Turks and Caicos Islands climate (TCI) are one of the most susceptible, despite the fact that they may play a minor part in global climate change. Small, low-lying developing states, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are the most vulnerable to global climate change and sea level rise. Sea level rise will inundate marshes and lowlands, erode shorelines, intensify coastal floods, and increase aquifer salinity, degrading water quality.
The prospects are bleak, as small island republics in the Caribbean continue to face greater vulnerability.
“Higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and greater storm severity throughout the Caribbean area threaten lives, property, and livelihoods,” according to the UN.
Furthermore, the TCI’s magnificent beaches, coral reefs, mangroves, fisheries, bird life, and essentially the tourism products and livelihoods that are focused on the coast, are all threatened by climate change, much like the rest of the Caribbean.
To counteract climate change in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the TCI and its stakeholders must implement the necessary reaction (adaptation) measures.
Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change Affected
The Turks & Caicos Islands will be severely impacted by climate change. Minister of Infrastructure Goldray Ewing said on September 8 that the devastation to Providenciales was substantial, with the northwestern community of Blue Hill “gone.” The hospital in Cockburn Town, the capital, was devastated. Roofs on South Caicos were destroyed to the tune of 75%. The total damage is still being assessed, but it is expected to be higher than Hurricane Ike’s $231 million toll in 2008.
According to socioeconomic analysts, disappearing reefs can cause hunger, poverty, and political instability in coastal regions that rely on money from tourism. Because numerous sea creatures rely on the reefs for shelter and protection from predators, the reefs’ demise would have a cascading effect on the many human societies that rely on those fish for food, tourism, and livelihood.
Coral reefs off the shores of Turks and Caicos attract scuba divers, snorkelers, and other tourists to beachside resorts, and by absorbing energy from waves, they help to sustain some of the world’s best sandy beaches. Hotels, restaurants, and other tourist-oriented companies may suffer financially if the reefs are lost.
Visitors seeking tropical underwater experiences account for approximately half of the gross national product in many Caribbean countries, including the neighboring Turks and Caicos.
Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change and Disaster Risks
Turks and Caicos Islands climate,Hurricanes cause devastation for a variety of reasons, and the most destructive aspect of the storm is usually not the tremendous winds.
Although not an issue in the Turks and Caicos, landslides triggered by heavy rains account for the majority of tropical cyclone mortality in more hilly areas. Similarly, widespread flooding is the principal cause of disaster in storm-prone places.
Impact of Hurricane
The hurricane season is the time of year when tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico are likely to occur. The hurricane season is often thought to begin on June 1st and end on November 30th. Tropical cyclones and hurricanes can form outside of this time frame, but this is extremely rare.
Tropical cyclones, which are large rotating storms with a low pressure center, are classified as tropical storms if sustained wind speeds are between 39 and 73 mph (63-118 kph) and hurricanes if sustained wind speeds are greater than 74 mph (119 kph).
Storm Surge
Storm surges can have a tremendous impact on the Turks and Caicos.
Turks and Caicos Islands climate, Low-elevation wetlands and saline flats make up around half of Turks and Caicos, and much of the remaining terrain is also quite low-elevation. Furthermore, nearly every historical hamlet in the Turks and Caicos is near the sea.
In a severe cyclone, the storm tide (the combination of a storm surge plus a normal tide) can reach heights of over twenty feet (6 meters); however, topography can have a significant impact on the surge height.
Storm surges are primarily caused by wind, not by a drop in air pressure, as is sometimes claimed. Surges are far higher in areas bordered by a gently sloping and gradually declining ocean floor, such as the south-eastern United States, than they are on Caribbean islands.
Fortunately for us, the Turks and Caicos Islands are located on an underwater plateau, with several abrupt transitions between the Atlantic ocean floor, which is roughly 11,000 feet deep (3.3 kilometers), and the shallow 30-60 foot depths (9-18 meters) water on the plateau. Extreme storm surges, as witnessed in other nations, are unsuitable for such terrain.
Rain and Flooding
The TTurks and Caicos Islands climate receive extremely little annual rainfall, and most of it falls as a result of a few tropical cyclones. Such deluges refill natural subsurface water lenses to some extent, but the earth becomes oversaturated with water and much is lost owing to drainage to the ocean.
Outbreaks of local mosquito populations are an unwelcome byproduct of rainfall flooding. Mosquitoes appear 10-12 days after heavy rainfall, as if on cue. Unless strong gusts force them away or rainfall continues, they usually last for about a month.
The number of mosquitoes on our various islands varies. North and Middle Caicos, East Caicos, Parrot Cay, and Pine Cay, to a lesser extent, Providenciales, encounter significantly less pests than North and Middle Caicos, East Caicos, Parrot Cay, and Pine Cay.
Rain floodwater Impacts
Tropical Storm Alpha flooded central Providenciales in 2005. There was nearly ten feet of standing water in some spots.
During practically any hurricane, roads in locations such as Leeward, Five Cays, Turtle Tail, and the southwestern end of Providenciales, as well as much of the principal “town” sections of Grand Turk and South Caicos, get underwater.
Coastal Impacts
Landscaping and trees, of course, will be severely harmed. In the islands, the average soil depth is fairly shallow, with underlying limestone bedding. Many of the trees in the area will simply topple over, despite the fact that they are not extremely tall in general.
Salt-burned vegetation is an intriguing effect. Following a hurricane or a large tropical storm, the side of the islands that took the brunt of the storm can frequently lose foliage due to wind and ocean wash. Leaves will turn shades of browns and reds for hundreds of feet inland, similar to the autumn colors observed in temperate zones. The trees and plants might take months to recuperate and regenerate their foliage.
There is also sand erosion and movement. The recent 2015 Hurricane Joaquin destroyed most of Malcolm’s Road Beach, much of the sand from which ended up along the Northwest Point coast, despite only reaching tropical storm level winds on Providenciales and West Caicos. One of the more well-remembered examples of sand migration happened during Hurricane Donna, a category 4 storm that opened Donna Cut, a channel that once existed between Little Water Cay (Iguana Island) and Water Cay near Half Moon Bay. This watercourse progressively refilled, eventually closing in 1999.
reference – Cepal.org,UN Projects,Turks and Caicos Islands climate artical
recentclimate – Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change,Turks and Caicos Islands climate News , Turks and Caicos Islands climate Education