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The connection between climatic change and social response is complex because change articulates a number of inter-related factors. Human decisions are filtered by social buffers – including social memory, risk perception, and cultural priorities – and the rate and scale of climate change is usually much larger than the scale of human decision-making. In this article, we provide information on climate change based on precisely dated speleothems with the response evident in archaeological sites that have radiocarbon date ranges within the same time frame. A stalagmite recovered from within the catchment area for aquifer recharge of the Pre-Arawak site of Angostura in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, shows that a significant wet period occurred between 3.9 and 3.1 ka (primarily centered at 3.5 ka). We investigate the effect that this increase in precipitation had on the earliest occupations on the island in the context of palaeoenvironmental, geoarchaeological, and archaeological records from Angostura, Maruca, and Paso del Indio. Our analysis suggests the presence of two different adaptation strategies: settlement relocation and microlandscape modification. Our study concludes that the social response to change cannot be seen as monolithic given that human behavior, even within the same period, addresses the needs of individual groups with different priorities. This multiplicity of responses can indeed enhance resilience as social support can continue through alliances and exchanges, strengthening social bonds that can help buffer catastrophes. The results can help shed light on the range of adaptation strategies to change encompassed within the manifestations of social resilience or vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We analyzed diatoms, lithology, and stable isotopes in a sediment core from the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta lagoon to reveal the history of late Holocene relative sea level rise and the ontogeny of the lagoon on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. At ~5300 cal. yr BP, the area was characterized by shallow, freshwater ponds that were prone to seasonal flooding. From ~4250 to ~2060 cal. yr BP, these ponds became brackish as relative sea level began to rise, and since ~2060 cal. yr BP, marine conditions have prevailed. In addition to tracking relative sea level rise, we also investigated periods of greater and lesser precipitation during times of brackish and marine conditions, respectively, as indicated by diatom-inferred changes in water salinity and shifts in the source of sediment organic matter. Comparisons with other regional paleoenvironmental records suggest that humid climate conditions prevailed in the Caribbean until about 4000 cal. yr BP. After that time, climate became more variable, with drier conditions registered from ~ 4000 to 2000 cal. yr BP. Wetter conditions returned after ~2000 cal. yr BP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A multiproxy analysis of lacustrine sediments cored in Grand-Case Pond at Saint-Martin, north of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, reveals three distinct climatic periods for the last 3700 years. From 3700 to ~2500 yr cal. BP and from 1150 yr cal. BP to the present, carbonate mud deposition occurred in connection with pond lowstands. These periods were also punctuated by severe drought events, marked by gypsum laminae, and hurricane landfalls, leading to marine sand inputs into the pond. The intermediate time interval, from 2500 to 1150 yr cal. BP, is typified by black organic mud deposition, suggesting that hypoxic to anoxic conditions prevailed at the pond bottom. These were probably linked with a perennial pond highstand and reflect more uniform and wetter climatic conditions than today. The carbon isotopic composition of the ostracod Perissocytheridea bisulcata shows that the lowest δ13C values are recorded during the hypoxic periods, as a consequence of bacterial recycling of isotopically depleted organic matter. Such a climatic history agrees closely with that documented from other records in the Caribbean area, such as the Cariaco Basin, central coast of Belize or Barbados. By constrast, discrepancies seem to emerge from the comparison between hurricane activity recorded at Saint-Martin on the one hand and Vieques (Puerto Rico) on the other hand. We explain this apparent contradiction by a balance between two distinct storm paths in response to latitudinal shifts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Stronger storm activity over the Gulf coast and the inner Caribbean Sea is favoured by a southern position of the ITCZ in connection with dry climatic conditions. Plausible links with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are also suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies about mass media framing have found divergent levels of influence on public opinion; moreover, the evidence suggests that issue attributes can contribute to this difference. In the case of climate change, studies have focused exclusively on developed countries, suggesting that media influence perceptions about the issue. This study presents one of the first studies of media coverage in a developing country. It examines newspapers’ reporting in Peru during the Fifth Latin America, Caribbean and European Union Summit in May 2008. The study focuses on the frames and the sources to provide an initial exploratory assessment of the coverage. The results show that the media relied mostly on government sources, giving limited access to dissenting voices such as environmentalists. Additionally, a prominence of “solutions” and “effects” frames was found, while “policy” and “science” frames were limited. The results could serve as a reference point for more comprehensive studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Relatively little is known about the long-term response of Caribbean mangroves to human and natural disturbances during the 'Little Ice Age' (LIA). We present new palynological information on the dynamics of the Bahia Honda mangrove from the eastern coast of San Andres Island in the southwestern Caribbean for the late Holocene. Major changes in the Bahia Honda pollen record show the combined effects of natural events (strong storms and sealevel rise), and human disturbances. These changes are supported by 14C dates, sedimentological and palynological information. A storm (most probably a hurricane) was recorded around AD 1600, caused sediment reworking and the subsequent loss of about 2000 years of the vegetation record. The devastation of tree vegetation by this event allowed the expansion of heliophytic vegetation (e.g. grasses and vines). Mangroves and coastal vegetation started to recover at AD 1700, reaching their maximum extent within a few decades, when microforaminifera shells became abundant at the coring site, thus suggesting a relative sea-level rise because of the geomorphic reconfiguration of the coastal plain after the storm. Furthermore, the pollen evidence indicates more humid regional climates during the late LIA (AD 1700-1850). Mangrove and coastal vegetation declined sharply as a consequence of the establishment of coconut plantations around AD 1850. The recovery of the mangroves after AD 1960 is a result of the combined effect of relative sea-level rise and drastic changes in the local economy from coconut plantations to commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of Caribbean climate pre-1990 focused almost exclusively on attempts to link spatial patterns in climatic variables to physical processes. Much of this research assumed a 'simple' regional climate, warm year round with a wet season dominated by tropical cyclones, but researchers soon found that a precipitation regionalization of the Caribbean was not as straightforward and simple. Consequently, a satisfactory understanding of the regional precipitation climate has eluded researchers for much of the second half of the twentieth century. Recently, with the increased availability and quality of satellite and precipitation data, researchers have begun to use gridded data sets to identify the spatial boundaries of the bimodal precipitation region and the atmospheric processes associated with the two maxima and minimum in precipitation. The findings of these most recent studies can be combined to construct a five part (North Atlantic high pressure, low level Caribbean jet, subsidence caused by Central America convection, basin wide increased wind shear, and divergence around Jamaica) conceptual Caribbean precipitation model that begins to address spatial variability in the bimodal structure of annual rainfall and the development of the midsummer minimum in precipitation. Such a regional precipitation climate model provides hypotheses to be tested and investigated in future research. Further, researchers must work towards a more effective and clear communication of the bimodal nature of Caribbean precipitation and the associated summer decrease in precipitation, integrate upper air analysis into the current working hypotheses, and further examine the interannual to interdecadal variability of the Caribbean midsummer drought for prediction purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]