Building a more Resilient and Low-Carbon Caribbean - Report 1: Climate Resiliency and Building Materials in the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed Bailey ◽  
Paola Carvajal ◽  
Javier García Fernández ◽  
Christiaan Gischler ◽  
Carlos Henriquez ◽  
...  

The Caribbean islands are among the 25 most-vulnerable nations in terms of disasters per-capita or land area, and climate change is only expected to intensify these vulnerabilities. The loss caused by climate events drags the ability of the Caribbean countries to invest in infrastructure and social programs, contributing to slower productivity growth, poorer health outcomes, and lower standards of living. Within this context, building resiliency should become a priority for the Caribbean countries. The series “Building a more resilient and low-carbon Caribbean”, focuses on improving the resiliency, sustainability and decarbonization of the construction industry in the Caribbean. The results show that increasing building resiliency is economically viable for the high-risk islands of the Caribbean, generating long term savings and increasing the infrastructure preparedness to the impacts of CC. Report 1 - Climate Resiliency and Building Materials in the Caribbean, presents a quantification of the economic losses caused by climate impact events in the Caribbean Region and correlate these figures with the most common construction materials, typically used in each of the countries building typologies. The losses caused by hurricanes concentrate mostly in the residential infrastructure and are mainly caused by weaknesses in roofs and their connection to the walls. The analysis suggests that improving the resiliency of outer walls and roofs in the Caribbean could significantly reduce the regions vulnerability to hurricanes and other climate impacts.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed Bailey ◽  
Paola Carvajal ◽  
Javier García Fernández ◽  
Christiaan Gischler ◽  
Carlos Henriquez ◽  
...  

The Caribbean islands are among the 25 most-vulnerable nations in terms of disasters per-capita or land area, and climate change is only expected to intensify these vulnerabilities. The loss caused by climate events drags the ability of the Caribbean countries to invest in infrastructure and social programs, contributing to slower productivity growth, poorer health outcomes, and lower standards of living. Within this context, building resiliency should become a priority for the Caribbean countries. The series “Building a more resilient and low-carbon Caribbean”, focuses on improving the resiliency, sustainability and decarbonization of the construction industry in the Caribbean.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed Bailey ◽  
Paola Carvajal ◽  
Javier García Fernández ◽  
Christiaan Gischler ◽  
Carlos Henriquez ◽  
...  

The Caribbean islands are among the 25 most-vulnerable nations in terms of disasters per-capita or land area, and climate change is only expected to intensify these vulnerabilities. The loss caused by climate events drags the ability of the Caribbean countries to invest in infrastructure and social programs, contributing to slower productivity growth, poorer health outcomes, and lower standards of living. Within this context, building resiliency should become a priority for the Caribbean countries. The series “Building a more resilient and low-carbon Caribbean”, focuses on improving the resiliency, sustainability and decarbonization of the construction industry in the Caribbean. The results show that increasing building resiliency is economically viable for the high-risk islands of the Caribbean, generating long term savings and increasing the infrastructure preparedness to the impacts of CC.


2012 ◽  
Vol 443-444 ◽  
pp. 110-114
Author(s):  
Yuan Luo

In the current transition conditions, living in rural areas how to form a new model to address the issue of live and living is very necessary. Mountainous rural areas and more for less, construction methods and how to inject carbon idea behind such issues as the actual situation in rural areas of the construction line tools and real estate construction materials, forming a certain significance of the ideas and methods.


1998 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
pp. 4246-4254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Fischer-Le Saux ◽  
Hervé Mauléon ◽  
Philippe Constant ◽  
Brigitte Brunel ◽  
Noël Boemare

ABSTRACT The genetic diversity of symbiotic Xenorhabdus andPhotorhabdus bacteria associated with entomopathogenic nematodes was examined by a restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes (rDNAs). A total of 117 strains were studied, most of which were isolated from the Caribbean basin after an exhaustive soil sampling. The collection consisted of 77 isolates recovered from entomopathogenic nematodes in 14 Caribbean islands and of 40 reference strains belonging toXenorhabdus and Photorhabdus spp. collected at various localities worldwide. Thirty distinctive 16S rDNA genotypes were identified, and cluster analysis was used to distinguish the genus Xenorhabdus from the genusPhotorhabdus. The genus Xenorhabdusappears more diverse than the genusPhotorhabdus, and for both genera the bacterial genotype diversity is in congruence with the host-nematode taxonomy. The occurrence of symbiotic bacterial genotypes was related to the ecological distribution of host nematodes.


Zootaxa ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 332 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID E. BAUMGARDNER ◽  
STEVEN K. BURIAN ◽  
DAVID BASS

The larval stages of Tricorythodes fictus Traver, T. cobbi Alba-Tercedor and Flannagan, and T. mosegus Alba-Tercedor and Flannagan are described for the first time based upon reared specimens. The rarely reported Asioplax dolani (Allen) is newly documented from the Austroriparian ecological region of Texas. Leptohyphes zalope Traver, known from the southwestern United States and much of Central America, is newly documented from the Caribbean Islands of Grenada and Tobago. This represents only the second leptohyphid mayfly known from both Continental America and the Caribbean region. Additional Caribbean records of Allenhyphes flinti (Allen) are also given.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rezuana Islam ◽  
Sajal Chowdhury ◽  
Nusrat Jannat ◽  
Pranjib Paul

PurposeLocal dwellings of Bangladesh have specific environmental characteristics. These dwellings extensively use locally available materials and construction techniques. Therefore, carbon footprint (CF), as a prominent environmental parameter, is greatly affected by construction materials and techniques. Nonetheless, scientific justification is limited to evaluate CF of these dwellings in Bangladesh according to different local construction materials. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate different rural dwellings’ CF for both construction and operational phases toward the development of low carbon society in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachFor evaluating CF, literature review and field studies were conducted to specify and categorize cases. An intensive field monitoring and occupant's survey were performed during summer. A widely recognized compliant database and assessment tool “Ecoinvent v3” was used based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040 and 14044. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to evaluate constructional and operational stages of carbon emission using hybrid methods formed by process-based and economic input–output life cycle analysis (EIO-LCA) approaches.FindingsThe study indicates that different building materials significantly impact on dwelling's amount of carbon emission according to construction techniques. Brick dwelling's construction stage carbon emission was nearly 3.86 times higher than timber, whereas, 6.75 times higher than mud dwelling. In terms of operational stage, local brick dwelling emits higher carbon compared to others relating to occupants’ lifestyle and activities.Originality/valueThis study will contribute to helping professionals and policy-makers to interpret and evaluate architectural design and construction processes for improving low-carbon dwellings in Bangladesh.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Jevrejeva ◽  
Judith Wolf ◽  
Andy Matthews ◽  
Joanne Williams ◽  
David Byrne ◽  
...  

<p>The Caribbean islands encompass some of the most vulnerable coastlines in terms of sea level rise, exposure to tropical cyclones, changes in waves and storm surges. Climate in the Caribbean is already changing and sea level rise impacts are already being felt. Considerable local and regional variations in the rate, magnitude, and direction of sea-level change can be expected as a result of thermal expansion, tectonic movements, and changes in ocean circulation. Governments in the Caribbean recognise that climate change and sea level rise are serious threats to the sustainable development and economic growth of the Caribbean islands and urgent actions are required to increase the resilience and make decisions about how to adapt to future climate change (Caribbean Marine Climate Change Report Card 2017; IPCC 2014).</p><p>As part of the UK Commonwealth Marine Economies (CME) Programme and through collaboration with local stakeholders in St Vincent, we have identified particular areas at risk from changing water level and wave conditions. The Caribbean Sea, particularly the Lesser Antilles, suffers from limited observational data due to a lack of coastal monitoring, making numerical models even more important to fill this gap. The current projects brings together improved access to tide gauge observations, as well as global, regional and local water level and wave modelling to provide useful tools for coastal planners.</p><p>We present our initial design of a coastal data hub with sea level information for stakeholder access in St. Vincent and Grenadines, Grenada and St Lucia, with potential development of the hub for the Caribbean region. The work presented here is a contribution to the wide range of ongoing activities under the Commonwealth Marine Economies (CME) Programme in the Caribbean, falling within the work package “Development of a coastal data hub for stakeholder access in the Caribbean region”, under the NOC led projects “Climate Change Impact Assessment: Ocean Modelling and Monitoring for the Caribbean CME states”.</p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Marshall ◽  
Patsy Sutherland

The objectives of this article are to discuss the various types of behaviors associated with grief and bereavement, and to examine the relationships, consequences, and outcomes of bereavement practices among the various religious and ethnic groups in the English-speaking Caribbean Islands of Jamaica, Trinidad, Grenada, and Barbados. The rituals associated with death and grief differs across cultures and is greatly influenced by religious beliefs and traditions. How these rituals are played out depend on the culture of origin and level of acculturation of the various groups into mainstream society. In the Caribbean region, expressions of grief represent religious and cultural traditions that may have a significant impact on social relations, particularly in multi-ethnic and multicultural societies. In the English-speaking Caribbean Islands of Jamaica, Trinidad, Grenada, and Barbados, mourning follows the patterns of traditional religious practices which have remained consistent over time. While families and friends may offer social support before and after burial or cremation, the social aspects of bereavement may also have implications for inter-group relations. Insights into bereavement practices and what it holds for ethnic and religious groups in contemporary Caribbean are presented.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1083
Author(s):  
Kerry Gainor ◽  
April Bowen ◽  
Pompei Bolfa ◽  
Andrea Peda ◽  
Yashpal S. Malik ◽  
...  

To date, there is a dearth of information on canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) from the Caribbean region. During August–October 2020, the veterinary clinic on the Caribbean island of Nevis reported 64 household dogs with CPV-2-like clinical signs (hemorrhagic/non-hemorrhagic diarrhea and vomiting), of which 27 animals died. Rectal swabs/fecal samples were obtained from 43 dogs. A total of 39 of the 43 dogs tested positive for CPV-2 antigen and/or DNA, while 4 samples, negative for CPV-2 antigen, were not available for PCR. Among the 21 untested dogs, 15 had CPV-2 positive littermates. Analysis of the complete VP2 sequences of 32 strains identified new CPV-2a (CPV-2a with Ser297Ala in VP2) as the predominant CPV-2 on Nevis Island. Two nonsynonymous mutations, one rare (Asp373Asn) and the other uncommon (Ala262Thr), were observed in a few VP2 sequences. It was intriguing that new CPV-2a was associated with an outbreak of gastroenteritis on Nevis while found at low frequencies in sporadic cases of diarrhea on the neighboring island of St. Kitts. The nearly complete CPV-2 genomes (4 CPV-2 strains from St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN)) were reported for the first time from the Caribbean region. Eleven substitutions were found among the SKN genomes, which included nine synonymous substitutions, five of which have been rarely reported, and the two nonsynonymous substitutions. Phylogenetically, the SKN CPV-2 sequences formed a distinct cluster, with CPV-2b/USA/1998 strains constituting the nearest cluster. Our findings suggested that new CPV-2a is endemic in the region, with the potential to cause severe outbreaks, warranting further studies across the Caribbean Islands. Analysis of the SKN CPV-2 genomes corroborated the hypothesis that recurrent parallel evolution and reversion might play important roles in the evolution of CPV-2.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin Dziki ◽  
Greta Binford ◽  
Jonathan A Coddington ◽  
Ingi Agnarsson

The Caribbean island biota is characterized by high levels of endemism, the result of an interplay between colonization opportunities on islands and effective oceanic barriers among them. A relatively small percentage of the biota is represented by ‘widespread species’, presumably taxa for which oceanic barriers are ineffective. Few studies have explored in detail the genetic structure of widespread Caribbean taxa. The cobweb spider Spintharus flavidus Hentz, 1850 (Theridiidae) is one of two described Spintharus species and is unique in being widely distributed from northern N. America to Brazil and throughout the Caribbean. As a taxonomic hypothesis, Spintharus “flavidus” predicts maintenance of gene flow among Caribbean islands, a prediction that seems contradicted by known S. flavidus biology, which suggests limited dispersal ability. As part of an extensive survey of Caribbean arachnids (project CarBio), we conducted the first molecular phylogenetic analysis of S. flavidus with the primary goal of testing the ‘widespread species’ hypothesis. Our results, while limited to three molecular loci, reject the hypothesis of a single widespread species. Instead this lineage seems to represent a radiation with at least 16 species in the Caribbean region. Nearly all are short range endemics with several distinct mainland groups and others being single island endemics. While limited taxon sampling, with a single specimen from S. America, constrains what we can infer about the biogeographical history of the lineage, clear patterns still emerge. Consistent with limited overwater dispersal, we find evidence for a single colonization of the Caribbean about 30 million years ago, coinciding with the timing of the GAARLandia landbridge hypothesis. In sum, S. “flavidus” is not a single species capable of frequent overwater dispersal, but rather a 30 my old radiation of single island endemics that provides preliminary support for a complex and contested geological hypothesis.


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