According to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), scientists have identified this activity as being timely in the face of last year"s severe weather in the region and projections for continued changes in climatic conditions worldwide.

The four-day training workshop will bring together some of the more authoritative regional voices on climatic risk assessment.

Discussions will be led by persons such as Manager of the Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Project, Dr Neville Trotz; Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), Dr Kenrick Leslie and Dr Roger Pulwarty of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and University of Colorado.

Participants drawn from a wide range of technical disciplines will be exposed to a course of training on developing appropriate methodologies in the area of vulnerability assessment.

Dr Trotz said the two main goals of the activity would be to "develop usable decision support information and tools to assist civic and business leaders in making critical decisions to mitigate climate hazards" and to "develop a cadre of climate impacts personnel as a resource for CARICOM governments".

The Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Project is funded mainly by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the World Bank and involves 12 participating CARICOM Member States, CMC indicated.

By: Prensa-Latina