CLIMATE CHANGE

Unless you have experienced a change in weather patterns and the impacts first hand you may have doubts whether or not climate change is real.  The Belize Coral Watch Program was founded in 2008 to monitor impacts of climate change on coral reefs and in 2011 the Belize Turtle Watch Program was launched to identify impacts of climate change on sea turtles.

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What is Climate Change?

Changing weather patterns are referred to as climate change, while global warming refers to the increasing temperature.  

The impacts of climate change are diverse and are being felt throughout through the world.  As the Earth warms and the polar ice caps melt sea level rises causing erosion on low lying coastal areas. 

Increased sea water temperatures alter ocean currents which impact migration paths and foraging grounds of marine life.  
Increasing sea water temperatures also directly impact the delicate balance that exists on coral reefs which result in more frequent episodes of coral bleaching. 

Increased air temperatures cause changes in vegetation and agricultural productivity. 

Increased storms result in more floods and coastal damage.  

In a changing world, we must now be prepared to adapt to our changing climate.

Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre

"Empowering people to act on climate change" is 5Cs slogan.  5 Cs was founded by Executive Director Dr. Kenrick Leslie, a Belizean who worked for many years abroad.  Well known meteorologist Carlos Fuller is the International and Regional Liaison Officer. 

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre coordinates the Caribbean region’s response to climate change, working on effective solutions and projects to combat the environmental impacts of climate change and global warming.  They oversee many projects throughout 20 CARICOM countries enabling communities to adapt to climate change.  

In Belize they partnered with WWF and  supported coral reef restoration by farming stony corals and transplanting them to reefs that were degraded. Farming corals that may be resilient to climate change and recolonizing the coral reef will help the coral reef remain healthy and provide important shoreline protection during tropical storms.

Lisa Carne founded the Fragments of Hope project in Belize along with 5Cs and WWF. Photo Facebook Fragments of Hope

World Wildlife Fund in Belize

The work of the World Wildlife Fund in Belize is managed by Ms. Nadia Bood, Mesoamerican Reef Scientist/Climate Change Adaptation Adviser for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).  Her responsibilities include implementation and oversight of research geared at coral reef conservation, socio-ecological adaptation to climate change, and others in support of WWF´s conservation efforts. Nadia provides technical assistance to colleagues, partners, and collaborators as needed, and is also the Country Representative for WWF-Belize Office. She holds a Master's degree in Marine Sciences from the University of South Alabama and is a two-time Fulbright scholar.

WWF is actively involved in enabling adaptation to climate change and spearheads protection of mangroves and they support the Coral Watch and Turtle Watch Programs that aim to measure impacts of climate change on coral reef and sea turtles.  These programs rely on volunteers to submit regular reports on the reefs they visit and therefore essentially become "Climate Witnesses" on the marine environment in Belize. 

Climate Witness

WWF launched the Climate Witness project whereby people from around the world share their climate change stories.  We would like to compile the stories from people in Belize so we can monitor over time the impacts of climate change in Belize, even those that may not directly impact the marine environment.

The Climate Witness Program is supported by a Scientific Advisory Panel and has two members representing Belize.  Ms. Ann Gordon is well known for her work as a meteorologist at the Belize National Meteorology Service and is Belize's National Climate Change Focal Point to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Ann is also the chair of the Belize national Climate Change Committee (CCC), which is focused on developing a national climate change strategy and policy for Belize.  Dr. Ulric Trotz specializes in capacity building for climate change adaptation in the Caribbean region and holds the post of scientific adviser at 5Cs - the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre - located in Belmopan.

Ms. Nadia Bood conducting beach profile surveys at Gales Point during the Belize Sea Turtle Training Workshop. Photo Linda Searle

Submit your response today and let's  see how we feel about climate change and it's impacts in Belize!