Climate Change Impacts in Dominican Republic

There seem to be no major impacts around the island of Dominican Republic. There is some physical impacts but the level of confidence for this to be due to climate change is in the range from low t medium. The physical impacts are rivers, lakes, floods and even droughts could be possible. 

The key regional risks around my regions are due to hurricanes, tropical storms, rain fall, and rising sea levels.  They key risks involved can cause loss of livelihood, in order to address this external resources and technologies are needed. Also the loss of costal settlements and infrastructures due to tropical storms or rising sea level can cause damage that need to be replaced or moved. Ecosystem services and economical stability is crucial to maintain in order to addresses any damages due to flooding or strong winds. 

 The most interesting topic out of chapter 14 in the Physical Science Basis report was the large-scale storm systems. The point of focusing on the tracks, intensity levels and how frequent tropical cyclone occur is very important. Not only is it important in order to predict future cyclones but also prepares these regions with the knowledge. The knowledge works to the regions advantage because it can provided information on how to maintain their sustainments like their regional water resources. I also found interesting was the fact that although past records of storms can have its advantages, in reference to the greenhouse warming scenarios, anthropogenic can cause a tropical cyclones to react unexpectedly. These storms may create new routes because of this reaction.  

In the regional chapters ''Small Islands' executive summary "The Fourth Assessment Report" and past reports on small islands point out the risks that are climate related in theses types of regions. The constant change of rainfall patterns, the temperature in the air and surface waters, sea level rising and the tropical storms and cyclones occurring are always risks that are present in these areas and threaten the loss of sustainment for the population not only in their ecosystems services but economically too. 

The threat to low-lying coastal areas on islands and atolls is very high when it comes to the topic of sea levels rising. Not only does it threaten coastal population, homes, economies but \ natural resources like fresh water capabilities, fishing, and coral reef ecosystems. There are many islands and they have diverse locations therefore some of these risks can potentially be more urgent then other risks depending on the location of the island. Therefore some of the solutions brought to light might not be the right solution to another island.  Some island communities have already been experiencing some of these risks and have increased challenges because of the increased climate changes. Overall creating an awareness of these pressing issues could result in a more resilient communities in response to these climate changes in the longterm. 

The most interesting threat to me was focused on the observes impacts on island economies. One of the main goals of island is to be sustainable especially because they are isolated they need to be very aware and prepared for anything. Most islands depend high on exports for food and fuel and also depend on tourism. Thier fisheries and agricultural crops are constantly being threaten due to climate changes. There is also a disadvantage to the permeant residents of these because the overheads cost per capita is very high. The result of climate changes requires constant renovations in technologies and infrastructures. Not only is it costly because of the upgrades but its also costing mush money because of the destruction that comes with tropical storms or flash floodings. The reason I decided to focus on this section was because as an economics major I was more inclined to investigate the results and impacts that climates change has on the small island economies. 

Severe weather in Dominican Republic

      A tornado is formed when a column of air starts to rotate, this begins when two different altitudes are moving in two different speeds creating a wind sheer. When the column gets sucked into a supercell updraft the updraft is then squeezed and spins faster. When this horizontal funnel turns vertically it turns into a  mesocyclone. After the funnel cloud is created the rain, hail in the thunderstorm make the funnel touchdown to create a tornado. 

      In the Unites States tornadoes usually travel southwest to northeast. This is the dominant direction in the US because the wind patterns that occurs in tornado valley produce frequent thunderstorms that can turn into tornadoes. The winds enable the moisture warm masses to collide with the cooled air that is more then likely dry. In order to make tornadoes wind sheer is needed to give the rotation the thunderstorms need to covert into tornadoes. The average number of tornadoes observed in the US per year is 1253. 

Website: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/extreme-events/us-tornado-climatology

Tornadoes are not that like to occur in Dominican Republic but hurricanes that occurs there have the possibility to produce and release dangerous tornadoes.  

      I could not find any information regarding  average number of tornadoes observed in my country per year but I found an article decribing three tornadoes that occurred after a tropical storm in 2008.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/storms/tornadoes/2008-04-22-dominican-republic-tornadoes_N.htm

  .Do,in an Republic falls in relation to the “hot spots of tornado activity" just below Florida. Many of the tornadoes that occur on my island are because of an occurring hurricane. 

      Its uncertain to say that tornadoes have increased over time because we classify tornadoes differently now then before, there is more technology available that can detect tornadoes and record. We also have many people linked to social media, technology like cameras that can report tornadoes. 30 years ago these things were not available to us. Now we not only have scientist recording but many others witnessing and posting picture that enable scientist to observed and construct data besides their own.

      In order for a hurricane to form  ocean waters must be warmer than 79 degrees at the surface. This enables moisture and the heat   into the upper atmosphere that provides energy to fuel a hurricane. To make a hurricane the heat and energy combines with the moisture in the air from evaporation of the ocean water.  A wind pattern near the ocean surface starts to spiral air inward. There are  of thunderstorms forming, enabling the air to warm up more and rise higher. If the winds at these higher levels are relatively light,  the structure of thunderstorms stay together and grow stronger as long as the winds are not too strong to break them as they travel higher. Hurricanes typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. The Coriolis Force is needed to create the spin in the hurricane and it becomes too weak near the equator, so hurricanes can never form there. 

      These main hurricane formation regions and their terms used depending on the regions. In the Atlantic and EastPacific they are called  Hurricanes. Cyclones in the Indian Ocean near Australia and Typhoons off the coast of China and Indonesia. 

      In the Unites States the general path hurricanes usually travel is from Texas to Maine. Hurricanes heading towards the United States start over the Sahara desert in Africa, move over the Atlantic Ocean and become tropical storms and then hurricanes. The trade winds much these winds over the Atlantic near the equator, these trade winds are very consistent westward winds near the equator. When these tropical storms reach the 25 or 30 degrees latitude the local weather in the united Sates affect what happens next. There are eastward bounding jet streams, north and northeast winds along the east coast.

      These winds are known to  cause storms that approach from the west and appears to move right up the East Coast, or to approach the East Coast and then retreat. High and Long fronts can affect the development of a hurricane, if a storm comes in from the west and does not travel far up north to lose the strong winds from trade winds it can continue to move westward to the Gulf of Mexico and land in Texas or Mexico. 

     Hurricanes  do occur in Dominican Republic.The average number of hurricanes that hit the US per year is 1.75 per year. 

Website:http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/E19.html
The average number of hurricanes that hit Dominican Republic per year is 1.

Website: http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/elmacao.htm

Daily Weather in Dominican Republic

My Country’s Capital City is Santo Domingo.The 3-day forecast will cover the 31st of October, the 1st and 2nd of November. The forecasted high on the 31st of October is 89 and the forecasted low is 75 with 30  percent of precipitaion. The forecasted high for November 1st is 89 and the forecasted low is 75  with 60 percent of precipitation. The forecasted high for the 3rd of November is 90 and the forecasted low is 75 with a 60 percent chance of percipoitation. The average pressure over the three day period was 29.93in. The pressure increased over the three day period by 0.16. The average wind speed over the five day period was 3.6 mph.The wind speed increased by 2 mph. 

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There are clouds present in my sattalitle image. There is a huge cloud over the windward side of Domincan Republic. The huge cloud is a cold high cloud. There are a few low warm clouds being pushed upward from the southernwest winds. With the Radar it shows that there is precipitation in my region. There are dark green and light green regions that show light precipitation. This region is located on the far northeastern side of the island and some of the clouds are being pushed away by the southernwest winds. 

The island is a mixture of Jungle and parks. There are a few grey areas, these represent the cities. There are mountains, the western south of the island is full of mountainous reagion and we also have a few mountains on the north eastern side of the island. There two major rivers. The Haina river is on the west side of Santo Domingo and Ozama river is located on the east. The Caribbean sea is south of Santo Domingo. 

 There is 1008mb and 1012 mb isobars located around my region. The 1012mb isobar encircles the northwester and south of Dominican Republic. There is low pressure north of Dominican Republic. There is surface trough east of the island and northwest of the country is cold fronts traveling towards Dominican Republic. 

This map shows that there is a low pressure north of Dominican Republic near Florida. There is also a high pressure south west of the island by the gulf of Mexico. There is the cold front moving from the north and a surface. There is also a trough and it can be clearly seen in the north east from Dominican Republic. 

Global and Local Winds in Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic is a small island located in the subtropics. It's latitude and longitude are 19.0000° N, 70.6667° W. This country is located in the Northern Hemisphere. There are three atmospheric cells; the Polar, Ferrel and Hadley cell. Dominican Republic is located in the Hadley cell
It's located on the wind belt of the tropical easterlies, the wind actually blow from the north eastern winds. Its near a high subtropical pressure belt. There is warm moist air raising and descending cool dry air. Dominican Republic is below the horse latitudes that are located at 30 degrees and above the Doldrums at 0 degree latitude.

http://www.shsu.edu/~dl_www/bkonline/GenRef111/Reading/RefL05Pressure/Lab05index.htm

http://www.cmmap.org/learn/climate/circ1.html

       Dominican Republic is located in the Hadley cell and is located near the wind belt of the tropical easterlies.  The climate in D.R is tropical because its located near the subtropical high and by the tropical easterlies. The Windward winds keeps the island vibrant and moist. The weather in Dominican Republic is rainy, sunny and it stays constant. Its located near a subtropical high. At the equator the sun heats up the air and the hot air becomes less dense and begins to rise. As it rises the moist air condenses creating rain.  The wind blowing from the northeast transports the air poleward at a high altitude. When it reaches a latitude of 30 degrees the air is cooled and dries and starts to sink. The dry air is then pushed back into the equator replenishing itself with the moistered warm air.

https://sites.google.com/site/atmospherenow/storm-systems/hurrican-katrina/cloud-formation-and-types/air-masses/global-wind-patterns

http://www.freeworldmaps.net/centralamerica/dominicanrepublic/map.html

Dominican Republic has mountains. The Cordillera Septentrional on the north, Cordillera Central in the central regions, and the Sierra de Neiba de Bahoruco on the south, there are 4 major mountain ranges.  There are five types of breezes or winds associated with mountains and they are the mountain and valley breezes, Chinook, Katabatic and Santa Ana Winds.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/111214/When-the-valley-floor-warms-during-the-day-warm-air

Dominican Republic has four major mountain ranges and they experience the Mountain breezes and valley breezes in these areas. The county also has coastlines as well and experience the land and sea breezes associated with these. Sea breezes are experienced during the mornings till midday. Durning this time the land is heating up at a quicker rate then the ocean water. As the air warms above the land it rises (low thermal) and expands as it reaches the top. The ocean is slowly heating so the aid above it is cool and create a thermal high. The wind flows move from the ocean to the land. When the day hits night fall the land begins to cool at a quicker rate then water. The land surface becomes a high thermal pressure area and the ocean a warm thermal low. The wind flow moves from the land to the ocean.

http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/edu/k12/.breezes

Typical Weather and Tourism in Dominican Republic

     In the Dominican Republic the Winter Solstice occurs around December 21st. The average maximum temperature during this month is 85° F. The average minimum temperature during this month is 69° F. The type of precipitation that likely occurs on the Winter Solstice Dominican Republic is rain fall, with an average of 3.3 inches.


     The Summer Solstice in Dominican Republic occurs on June 21st. The average maximum temperature during this month is 87° F. The average minimum temperature for this month is 73 ° F. My country has a weather that is usually always sunny and warms. They experience rainfall throughout the year. Although the amount of rain differers from month to month. In June the average rainfall in Dominican Republic is about 5.5 inches. No major tropical storms or hurricanes are expected to hit Dominican Republic even though the Hurricane season has started.


     Spring Equinox occurs on 20th of March in Dominican Republic. As you will notice the temperatures in Dominican republic stay between the 60's and high 80's. The average maximum temperature during this month is 85 ° F.  The average minimum temperature during this month is 68° F. The type of precipitation is likely to occur on the Spring Equinox is rainfall with an average of 2.1 inches.

      The Autumnal Equinox in Dominican Republic occurs in September 22nd. The average maximum temperature during this month is 89 ° F. The average minimum temperature during this month is 73 ° F. The precipitation that is likely to occur on the Autumnal Equinox is rain fall. They receive  an average of 7.1 inches of rain! This is a bigger amount then in any other months because of the Hurricane season which occur in the months of June through November (during the summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox).

     I would recommend to travel during the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox seasons (December-March). It's a lot more pricier to travel and the reason so is because most people are escaping the northern hemispheres freezing temperatures for a vacation. Although most of the tourist do come in during this time, it's the best weather to enjoy in Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has fairly constant temperatures throughout the year but the seasons can affect the humidity levels.
During the Summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox the temperatures are at the highest plus its very humid because these are the rainiest months in Dominican Republic and hurricane season.

     There are many activities to do while you're in Dominican Republic. One of the most popular activities to do while there during the winter Solstice is whale watching. There are many whale watching tours given but the Samana has the best location to do so.
     Another activities that you could enjoy is a hike or a light stroll through the national parks. These parks are large protected jungles that is home to many unique wild life. There are waterfalls and lagoons located here. One in particular is El Choco National Park which is located in the town of Cabarete.

Potential weather hazards occur mostly during the Summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox. The reason why I'd recommend to travel during the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox seasons is because it's not as humid as during the summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox. As I mentioned before these months have hurricane and rainy seasons. You'd enjoy outdoor activities in a less humid environment, when its humid the temperature's feel a lot hotter.

Dominican Republic your escape to a paradise adventure awaits.  

Temperature Controls in the city of Santo Domingo in Dominica Republic

     Although Santo Domingo the capital of Dominican Republic's temperature is fairly constant, there are many controls that influence the temperature whether it be latitude, altitude, proximation from the ocean, the type of ocean currents that are close by, the water flows from nearby rivers, wind direction, and the time of the day.

     The Dominican Republic is an island  located in the West Indies, the right side of the island is the country of Dominican Republic approximately about 18,704 square miles of area and on the left side of the island is Haiti holding approximately  10,710 square miles in area. The Atlantic ocean is to the north of the island and the Caribbean Sea to the south. There is also a channel that separates the nearby island of Puerto Rico to the south of it.  The capital city of Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo which is located on the south coast of the island. The latitude for Santo Domingo is 18°30′0″N  and the longitude is 69°59′0″W.

The warmest month in my city is July through October with an average monthly temperature of 88.7 F.
The coldest month in my city is January to February with an average monthly temperature of 67.3 F.

Based on the information above the annual range of temperature for my city is  21 F.

Website where I found this information:

http://www.weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-min-max-Temperature-fahrenheit,Santo-Domingo,Dominican-Republic

     Santo Domingo has an average temperature that stays constant throughout most of the year. They have tropical climate. Its hot and humid but the trade winds help keep the heat and humidity from being overwhelming. Hurricanes and rain is also created with these trade winds.

     My country is located in the tropical region near the equator. my country has a fairly constant temperature and not much variation in seasons. Temperature does not drop anywhere near 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I do not think they will every have to worry about snow and the measures to deal with this type of weather.

     Climate change would drastically effect my country. The rising sea level would take up the shores and coastline. Many of the highly populated and tourist cities are located along theses shores. There is a river that runs along Santo Domingo into the ocean and if there was a sudden change in the rain, like heavy rain fall, the waters would rise and causing flooding. These floods would cause sever damage and would take a lot of financing to resolve. Also the rising sea level has a potential to filter into the freshwater reserves causing the government to scramble for financing solutions.
http://www.ibtimes.com/santo-domingo-among-cities-biggest-risk-being-affected-climate-change-1461488

     I've learned that my country could be uncomfortably humid and hot because of it proximity to the ocean ( a water body), and the tropical location. But because of the trade winds that are coming in, it offsets this making it a bit cooler.  I also found out that these trade winds have the potential to cause hurricanes and heavy rain fall.