Geography and climate in the Caribbean region for beginners

If you are having
thoughts of moving to the Caribbean region, you are in for a treat.
The land is just beautiful, and a dream place for many. Nonetheless,
you should put
effort into learning about geography and climate in the Caribbean
region.
That will enable you to prepare
for the move more easily,
and also navigate
the area
once you relocate. With that in mind, read this crash course for
beginners, and start learning about the Carribean region today!
Geography and
climate in the Caribbean region
When talking about
geography and climate in the Caribbean region, the first thing I
should mention is that the
Caribbean consists of many islands.
Depending on which island you are visiting, the terrain will look
different.
The Caribbean splits
into two major regions, Greater
Antilles
and the Lesser
Antilles.
For example, Aruba,
Barbados, Curacao, Saint Croix, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, the Bahamas,
and Antigua have relatively
flat terrain.
They are non-volcanic,
and thus much safer.

Caption: Mountain regions of the Caribbean are full of active volcanos
All other regions
have rugged
mountains of volcanic origin.
History
of volcanoes in the Caribbean
It is crucial that
we talk about the history of volcanoes in the Caribbean. If you are
moving to a dangerous region, you should be aware of that. At the
moment, there
are 19 live volcanoes in the Caribbean.
They are likely to erupt again, and they are spread between
Grenada and Saba.
Furthermore, there
are also underwater
volcanoes in the Caribbean.
What
causes volcanoes in the Caribbean?
The entire Eastern
Caribbean is a volcanic region,
due to the fact that it lies on the boundary between two tectonic
plates, the North
American Plate
and the Caribbean
Plate.
When shifting occurs, the denser of two plates sinks, thus creating
pockets for magma to flow out. That is how volcanoes are formed.
Caribbean
waters
The coast of the
Caribbean sea is full of silky beaches. Water is cristal clear and
sky-blue, and it is home to many migratory schools of fishes and
turtles. Furthermore, it is abundant with coral reefs.
The deepest point in
the Atlantic ocean is the Puerto Rico Trench. It is right there,
where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea.
The climate in
the Caribbean region
The climate in the
Caribbean region varies between areas. It is mostly tropical,
which means you get to experience tropical
monsoon,
tropical rain
forest,
as well as tropical savanna.
Furthermore, there are some arid
regions,
where you can see drought throughout most of the year. Mountain peaks
are much colder, and they are mostly in the temperate
climate.

Rainfall
Depending on the
water
current, size, and elevation,
rainfall varies in every region. Moist,
trade winds
are coming from the east, and they are the reason for droughts and
rain forests.
To summarize:
tropical rainforest
- lowland areas from Costa Rica to Belize, Puerto Rico, Dominican
Republic
tropical savanna -
northern Colombia and Venezuela, Cuba,
southern Yucatán, and Mexico
arid regions -
northern coast of Venezuela, Curacao, Aruba
Climate changes
in the Caribbean
Global climate
changes are affecting more and more regions of the world, and the
Caribbean is no exception. These changes are posing a threat to the
economy, lifestyle, and general safety of the Caribbean islands.
At the moment, there
are a lot of town
meetings regarding climate changes.
People are trying to find the best solutions to the posing threats,
and protect the land and the people. Human mobility is the number one
topic of concern.
The intention isn’t
to frighten you or have you change your mind regarding moving to the
Caribbean. It is essential that you
are aware of the geography and climate in the Caribbean region
before you start looking
for movers in your area in a hurry.
The
rise in the sea level is expected
According to NASA
research, by the year 2100, the
sea level will rise between 1–4 ft.
That change will affect most
of the coastal cities
bellow the level. That affects almost
32 million people.
Furthermore, the entire tourism
industry in these regions is in danger.
Coastal financial loses could range somewhere between $940 million
and $1.2 billion USD. That is entire Latin America and the Caribbean
included.
Increased
temperature
The rise of the
sea and air temperature may produce stronger hurricanes,
also known as tropical cyclones. According to the United
States National Hurricane Center,
the entire North Atlantic basin is highly active when it comes to
hurricanes.
The hurricane starts
as a tropical storm, and it transforms due to the change in the air
and sea temperature. Since 2017, four
tropical storms in this region have become hurricanes once they
reached the Caribbean.
Two level-5 hurricanes that hit the Caribbean were Irma
and Maria,
and they caused a lot of destruction in the areas of Cuba and Puerto
Rico.
The impact of
climate changes on the social and economic state
With the climate
changes that are due to happen in the next 50 - 100 years, the
social life and the economic state of the Caribbean are in danger.

The history of the
Caribbean is rooted in colonialism for goods extraction. As a result,
they depend on colonial entities. Because of that, they
cannot be self-sufficient.
The lack of ability to compete with world economies today is what
endangers the Caribbean the most. Tourism
generates the biggest amount of income for these regions,
and if tourist visits go down because of the hurricanes and floods,
the Caribbean islands will suffer a lot.
The Caribbean
islands are beautiful, and a good time is guaranteed. Over
30 million tourists still visit the Caribbean over the entire year,
and there are plenty of safe regions for you to consider. Know that
moving to the Caribbean is a lifetime opportunity for many, so if you
have your chance, be sure to use it!
Published November 21, 2019
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