RESEARCH & INNOVATION
The groundwork is being laid for the development of a system to predict wildfires in Barbados that could significantly reduce the costs associated with this occurrence and its impact on health.
T
he proposed Wildfire Warning Index is the brainchild of the Centre for Biosecurity Studies (CBS) at the Cave Hill Campus. If realised, it would not only forecast the number of wildfires but where they could occur based on the climate forecast. The CBS defines wildfires as fires that burn biomass or vegetation. This encompasses sugar cane, trees, grass, and rubbish fires. Director of the centre Dr. Kirk Douglas said the index would only account for the influence of climate variables on wildfires and not the human factor nor spontaneous combustion, the latter two being unpredictable. The centre has reached out to researchers of the Climate Studies Group Mona located at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus. This group was instrumental in the development and presentation of a similar index for Jamaica.
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CHILL NEWS
Early Warning System for Wildfires on the Cards by Carol Williams
The initiative is a key component in a pending research grant proposal to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF). Another significant aspect entails putting a dollar value on the cost of wildfires, with the expectation that this would spur policymakers to act. Dr. Douglas explained, “When you’re looking at the economic impact, it is not merely about the vegetation that is burnt or the water that is used to extinguish these fires. You’re also looking at manpower, [and] affected businesses and schools that have to close. Some people may have to go on sick leave because of exposure to the smoke; then you have to examine the economic impact of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the role this exposure is having on the healthcare bill of a particular country.” This effort will be strengthened by the work of H3E Caribbean Initiative (Human Heredity, Environment and Health in the
Dr. Kirk Douglas Centre for Biosecurity Studies (CBS) The UWI, Cave Hill Campus
Caribbean), a partnership comprising The UWI Faculties of Medical Sciences, the Jamaica Cancer Care & Research Institute (JACCRI) and Harvard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations, and Health Disparities, and in which the CBS is involved as Co-Chair of the Environment Working Group. This H3E Caribbean Initiative is exploring how climate change relates to the built environment, physical infrastructure, pollution, beauty products, food/nutrition, substance abuse, physical activity, and varied psychological and psychosocial stressors to which individuals were exposed from birth to the present, known as the exposome, and how these elements have impacted genomic DNA and its correlation
