The Impact of the CCCCC’s Clearinghouse on Climate Change Knowledge Acquisition in Belize

Abstract

The discovery and mention of climate change started sometime in the nineteenth century when several occurring natural changes were identified by scientists. The effect of greenhouse gases on the climate and the environment became of concern. Climate change has been of a growing concern over the years. In the world today, it has shown far reaching effects on the environment and as well on humans at an increasingly severe manner. This is due largely to modern industrial activities and other collective inputs of humans in their day to day livelihoods, all of which have increasingly changed the natural balance in the environment making climate change a serious issue. For example, the constantly increasing amount of carbon dioxide within the atmosphere acts as a barrier that traps heat inside making the environment hotter and a resultant increase in the level of global warming. Carbon dioxide abounds in the fumes produced by the vehicles we use as means of transportation and conveyance of goods to our many destinations. The United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reported that globally averaged concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached 407.8 parts per million in 2018, up from 405.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2017. The European Union in 2017 reported that 87 percent of all human-produced carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil. To tackle the challenges of climate change countries have taken several initiatives to combat the negative trends and the attendant effects of climate change and Belize is no exception to this. Like Belize, the Caribbean region as a whole is at the highly vulnerable end of the various modern activities causing and increasing the trend in climate change. The awareness of the challenges posed by the changing climate and the understanding of the potential depth of the problem being created for future generation should be of concern to all well-meaning citizens of the Caribbean region. Proper awareness on this critical issue is not possible without the acquisition of relevant knowledge on the subject matter. This then necessitates an inquiry into the success of an existing system, the Clearinghouse system put in place by the CCCCC to foster the acquisition of knowledge on the specific subject of climate change and as well generally on the environment which bears the effect of climate change.

Keywords: Information System Success Model, Clearinghouse Database System, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCCC)