This body has been approved by the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO), and is the first in the Western hemisphere

Barbados is now home of the first Regional Climate Center (RCC) in the Western hemisphere, according to the CARICOM secretariat.

The body, approved by the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO), was opened at the headquarters of the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH).

The idea of setting up such a center was submitted to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 2009 under the auspices of the North, South and Central American and Caribbean nations, endorsed one year later by CMO and finally sanctioned last May.

Ronald Jackson, executive director of the Agency for Disaster and Emergency Management, stated that this agency needs some resources from the region’s governments for its sustainable operation.