Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) Station

The Climate Change phenomenon is becoming more evident, with increasing ocean acidification and thermal stress affecting coral reefs with the result being coral bleaching. It is, therefore, critical to monitor the various parameters that impact the coral reefs in the Caribbean. Strong Coral Reef Early Warning Systems (CREWS) improve climate-risk planning, management and action necessary to address the impacts of Climate Change, especially coral bleaching. To this end, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, through collaboration with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is working to establish an integrated regional network of climate and biological monitoring stations to strengthen the region’s early warning mechanism. Under the MACC and EU-GCCA projects seven (7) Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) stations have been installed in Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.