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The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a unique, US$1.5 million dollar project that aims to increase the use of technology to build climate resilience throughout the region.
The project, which was funded through a grant and approved Monday, will support flight-mapping services to collect Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data for roughly 10,000 square kilometers of vulnerable Caribbean coastal areas, according to Caribbean 360.
It will be developed over a three-year period by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, or CCCCC.
“Generating quality scientific data and information products, data sharing, and ease of data access and transfer, are important aspects of building climate resilience across the region because they support an improved understanding of climate risks and impacts,” said the CDB's projects department director, Daniel Best.
“LiDAR-based mapping technology can, therefore, assist the region in addressing some of the problems being experienced, due to the absence of geospatial data for decision-making, and improve the capacity of stakeholders to make better-informed decisions, for more effective management of natural hazard and climate risks.”
Meteorologists have warned that this year's hurricane season, which officially runs from June 3 to September 30, will be as bad, or worse, than last year's. Researchers at Colorado State University are predicting seven hurricanes, as well as 14 named storms, will form this year.
Meteorologists are also predicting that of the hurricanes; three will fall in the range of category three or five, with a 52 percent chance of a hurricane panning over the Caribbean region. The probability is ten percent higher than last year's estimate.
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