2.13 - Trinidad And Tobago

Question 1

What is a SID?

Answer 1

Small Island Developing state

Question 2

How much of Trinidads population live or works on the coast?

Answer 2

70%

Question 3

When do winter storms occur?

Answer 3

Nov-Apr
- have higher swell waves

Question 4

What direction does the wind come from?

Answer 4

NE-SW
- East coast beaches are subject to southerly LSD
- Thus have highest erosion rates (Coco Bay and Guyaguayare Bay)

Question 5

What happened in 2014 at Manzanilla beach?

Answer 5

• Coastal flooding along 20km of beach
• 300m of main access road was destroyed
• cut off access to SE
• cost £5m to repair

Question 6

What is the geology of the Trinidad coastline?

Answer 6

• Low grade metamorphic rock
• weak sandstone and alluvial deposits

Question 7

Where is the oil industry based in Trinidad?

Answer 7

Guayaguayare
- main source of GDP and exports

Question 8

What is the SLR per year?

Answer 8

0.06m

Question 9

What is the erosion rate at Guayaguayare Bay

Answer 9

0.63m/year

Question 10

Where do most people live on Trinidad?

Answer 10

Mayaro
- Beachfront properties are valued at £700k

Question 11

How many tourists visited Trinidad last year?

Answer 11

400,000
- desirable beach location
- growing eco-tourism industry

Question 12

What is the main economic threat posed by the high erosion rates?

Answer 12

• Trinidad is dependant on petrochemical industry
• all major natural gas pipelines come to shore at Guayaguayare and then onto rest of island
• infrastructure losses are harder to cope with due to smaller economies of scale on SIDs

Question 13

How import is oil to Trinidads economy?

Answer 13

Forms 40% of GDP
80% of exports

Question 14

How could erosion affect tourism?

Answer 14

Nesting sites for leatherback turtles could be lost
- are an attraction for tourists
Manzanilla beach could be destroyed
- loss of tourism and hospitality industry

Question 15

What are the potential social losses due to erosion?

Answer 15

• cash crop plantations could be lost - loss of livelihood
• value of beachfront properties can decrease, may lead to breaking up of communities if they relocate
• individual management attempts further up coast can negatively affect communities down the beach - tension

Question 16

What issues does the destruction of infrastructure pose?

Answer 16

• infrastructure loss is more costly on SIDs due to smaller economies of scale
• transport disruptions can affect tourism (employees + tourists) and oil industries