A significant sign reversal in the meridional potential vorticity gradient was found during the summer of 1991 on the 310-K isentropic surface (near 700 mb) over the Caribbean Sea. The Charney–Stern necessary condition for instability of the mean flow is met in this region. It is speculated that the sign reversal permits either invigoration of African waves or actual generation of easterly wave...

Populations of endangered Caribbean sea turtles are far more depleted than realized because current conservation assessments do not reflect historic nesting data. We used historical sources to analyze changes in the numbers of nesting populations and population sizes for green and hawksbill turtles on all known nesting beaches in the Caribbean over the past millennium. We present the first maps...

Global warming is seen as one of the greatest threats to the world's coral reefs and, with the continued rise in sea surface temperature predicted into the future, there is a great need for further understanding of how to prevent and address the damaging impacts. This is particularly so for countries whose economies depend heavily on healthy reefs, such as those of the eastern Caribbean. Here, ...

Background: For psychiatric disorders, comorbidity is a rule rather than exception. Thus it is particularly important to study additive and multiplicative effects of multiple mental disorders on suicidal behaviors. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the ethnic differences in multiplicative effects of mental disorders on suicidal ideation among Black adults in the United States...

Large cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies are found in the Caribbean Sea. Analysis of sea level data from the TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter shows that the eddies are quite regular, appearing at near 3-month intervals west of the southern Lesser Antilles. These eddies progress westward at average speeds of 12 cm s, growing in amplitude up to 20 cm. Many eddies dissipate in the coastal waters of Nicaragu...

A method to predict the June–September (JJAS) Caribbean sea level pressure anomalies (SLPAs) using data available the previous April is described. The method involves the creation of a multiple linear regression equation that uses three predictors. These predictors are the January–March (JFM) North Atlantic (508–608N, 108–508W) sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs), JFM Niño 3.4 (58N–58S, 1...

The islands of the Caribbean are a particularly interesting geographical region to examine the dynamic relationship between past human communities and sudden environmental change. This chapter examines how past peoples, living on the islands in the Caribbean Sea, were vulnerable to a number of environmental threats. The focus of this chapter is the impact of floods, droughts, and wind shear cre...

sea turtle species survive in only a limited area of its natural range. Sea turtles must occur throughout their natural ranges to ensure that they fulfill their ecological roles. For example, hawksbills are primary predators in coral reef ecosystems and thus assist in maintaining the biodiversity and ecological processes of these complex ecosystems. Unfortunately, as is made all too clear in th...