May is typically one of the hottest and driest months across the Caribbean region. However, over the last several days, some islands, including Saint Lucia, have experienced heavy rainfall, ahead of the 2025 hurricane season which begins June 1. Scientists are predicting a 50 per cent chance of a near-normal hurricane season and a 20 per cent chance that it will be above normal.
It was against this backdrop, as well as other issues related to climate change and how the weather and climate directly and indirectly impact people, that media practitioners from the region gathered for a two-day training exercise in Grenada.
A very stimulating and interactive session concluded day one of the capacity building training seminar on Tuesday, with participants from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Guyana, Belize, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.
The exercise is organised by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) under the Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications (ClimSA) Programme in partnership with CARIMAC, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the UK Met Office.
The aim of this initiative, organisers say, is to enhance the capacity, awareness and communication skills of both media professionals and NMHS staff in an effort to ensure that climate-related news coverage, as well as the dissemination of climate information, services and products, are accurate and effectively communicated to the public and relevant stakeholders.
Facilitators on the first day included Adrian Trotman of CIMH, Dr Patrick Prendergast and Gail Hoad of CARIMAC and Nicola Golding and Jane Strachan of UK Met.
According to Trotman, most of us in the Caribbean recognise two seasons: “One is the dry season and the other is this upcoming season that everybody calls the hurricane season.” However he went on to explain that it is not just about the hurricane season but just as much so about a wet season.
“I know the concern is really about hurricanes because of their potentially higher impact but sometimes we don’t realise (that) in the Caribbean we are more frequently impacted by flooding than we are by hurricanes. We may be threatened every year by hurricanes, but it doesn’t always hit everywhere but I can almost guarantee that in some part of each country, between June and November-December every year some place floods,” Trotman said.
It was emphasised that one now has to speak of a dry season, a hurricane/wet season as well as a heat season.
Trotman went on to acknowledge the significant role the media plays in messaging the general public but hoped that the messaging went beyond mere reporting on hurricanes.
At the start of the training Prendergast pronounced that the exercise would be highly engaging as it was designed in such a way where it would be about everyone participating and sharing.
Golding of the UK Met Office opened up the discussions by asking the media to consider the challenges faced when reporting on climate and the weather. “What are some of the challenges with communicating the types of climate information that the public need to access and we are not here to talk to you the whole time; this is very much a mutual learning experience for all of us,” Golding said.
One of the main challenges media practitioners outlined was breaking down and sifting through the scientific terminology and jargon used by meteorologists and scientists to make it more relatable to the public. The issues of accessing the information and the experts in a timely manner were also raised, as well as combating fake news and inaccurate information on social media.
The group was later challenged by Prendergast with the question: Is there more to report in terms of weather and climate?
The sessions sought to draw to the attention of journalists that the issues of climate, climate change and the weather are linked to numerous other aspects that would make for good news stories. These included farming and food security, tourism, health, water quality and the economy.
The day concluded with media participants producing pieces for various media platforms on climate and weather-related subjects.
Day two of the training continues on Wednesday at the Radisson Hotel in Grenada.
The event is also providing training for officials of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services from the region. They are expected to join the media on Thursday for day one of the Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF). The forum will focus on the forecast for the upcoming hurricane season and will also see an exchange between the media and the experts on some of the challenges in reporting on the issues.
