Climate Change in Trinidad and Tobago

This summer, I worked with the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society (TTRCS) to explore the ways in which climate change impacts Trinidad and Tobago residents. Based on conversations with TTRCS staff and scholarly research, I designed a research project to help educate Trinidad and Tobago residents about climate change effects, thus challenging the common perception that climate change does not severely threaten the islands. Over the course of ten weeks, I interviewed six men and women with diverse life experiences and occupations, including a fisherman, two members of local NGO’s, a tour bus operator, a Venezuelan agriculture technician, and a hotel clerk. Using these responses, I compiled a six-part video series (22 minutes total) as an educational tool for TTRCS. In a 24-page report for TTRCS, I detailed relevant climate change information for Trinidad and Tobago, included important excerpts from the interviews, and offered four recommendations for avenues in which TTRCS can become further involved in climate change education. From this project, I gained a deeper understanding of Trinidadian residents and the subtle, yet significant, effects of climate change – coastline erosion, sea level rise, increasing temperatures, changing fish and agriculture patterns, etc. – in Trinidad and Tobago today and how these impacts will worsen in the years to come.