Climates and Climate Controls

Climograph

       Haiti's climate is tropical. Due to it's mountainous terrain Haiti is impacted by mountain climate control as temperatures decrease higher up in altitude at the top of mountains. Ocean currents also effect Haiti as the current from the shores of the island influence air temperature as the ocean mixes heat with the overlying atmosphere. It also influences evaporation rates which are usually higher where sea-surface temperature is higher. Geographic positioning affects Haiti because it is on the west coast  of the Greater Antilles island but on the east side of the globe causing it to rain more in the summer than in the winter. Due to Haiti's maritime tropical climate it experiences more precipitation than the latter of continental countries because of their proximity to a large moisture source. The dominant climate of Haiti is tropical with some variation depending on altitude. In January the capital city Port Au Prince ranges from an average minimum of 23°c to an average maximum of 31°c and in July, from 25–35°c . The rainfall pattern is varied, with heavier rain in some of the lowlands and on the northern and eastern slopes of the mountains. Port-au-Prince receives an average annual rainfall of 137 cm with two rainy seasons, April–June and October–November. Haiti is subject to periodic droughts and floods, made more severe by deforestation and common hurricanes.

Waste Management

In Haiti recycling doesn't exist and waste disposal is vaguely in operation. They do not have the money or incentive to create a municipally organized waste management system due to other more potent issues in their country, such as poverty. Their form of waste management is piling waste along roadsides until an organization by the Ministry of public works called the SMCRs comes by to pick it up which due to the mass overload of garbage can only ever collect just a fraction of the overall waste. They currently use landfills to put the collected waste however due to the vast abundance of waste littering the public streets and cities it is causing pollution to marine life, vegetation growth and, ground water and soil contamination and even sanitary problems. Birds and marine animals are all at risk due to the overload of garbage on beaches and shores leaving the ecosystem in serious danger as citizens burn garbage and plastic as they have no other means of removal only polluting the environment more with toxic gases of CO2 as well as posing serious respiratory and health problems to locals. Although these are ineffective and harmful methods ridding their land of waste, their is no better option available to them, simply due to the cost constraints. Other methods of waste disposal have been offered to the Haitian government as help from aiding organizations from other countries however this puts Haiti at risk for being stuck in contracts with these organizations for thirty plus years as well as going through extensive costs and measures to build incineration factories to burn garbage and plastics properly for fuel and recycling them into building parts. Haiti suffers with their waste issue as it affects everyone who lives in the streets or see's it, somehow it plays an affect on each persons lives. I personally think they should pool their money into creating a proper waste disposal method such as factories for incineration to produce energy because although it will be extremely costly and may tie them down, it will solve a massive issue that in the long run will benefit the running of their country making it cleaner, healthier and more appealing to tourists which will bring more money back into their government. Right now they don't have many options as the conditions and state the country is in waste wise is catastrophic and I feel if external organizations are willing to help their country create these factories they shouldn't think twice as it will only bring a better way of life to it's citizens and ecosystem.

Hurricane/Tornado

Haiti is prone and very susceptible to persistent hurricanes due to its tropical and hot climate as it has had four official hurricanes just in the past seven years plus many other heavy rainfalls. Hurricane Gustav was one of the worst hurricanes that occurred within this time span on August 26th 2008 that caused approximately 77 deaths and eight disappearances. Gustav was a category four hurricane that formed in the early morning of August 25th, 420 kilometers from Port Au Prince, Haiti's capital, rapidly morphing into a tropical storm that afternoon and into a hurricane early the next day. The Haitian town Jacmel was first to be hit by the hurricane followed by many other Caribbean Islands as well as the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands and the United States causing about 6.6 billion dollars in damages. Gustav rampaged through Haiti, Jamaica, Western Cuba and steadily moved into the Gulf of Mexico which once reached became gradually weaker because of increased dry air and wind shear. On the early morning of August 26th when Gustav was enclosing on Haiti's southwestern peninsula, it's winds were topping 150 km/h making landfall on Haiti at 121 km/h. However as the Hurricane traveled across Haiti's mountainous terrain it began to lose a little power as its circulation was disrupted. Hurricane Gustav was the second most destructive hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season causing serious damage and casualties in many countries, with Haiti being the first in line. Before the hurricane had struck, Haitians had already been suffering from sky-rocketed food prices and extreme poverty, making the destruction from the storm only that much worse. Forty-five percent of the population being under the age of eighteen concluding in immense amounts of children left orphaned, poor and starving. Social and economical states were perishing prior to the hurricane only to be followed by physical declines as well from the deforestation and destruction left from Gustav. Schools and house's were left flooded and broken down affecting children's education as they could not go to classrooms that upcoming fall for the new school year leaving children's livelihoods and futures at stake.

Air masses, Global Winds and Types of Rain

The dominant air mass that impacts Haiti is maritime tropical. This is because the weather throughout majority of the year consists of sunny skies and high temperatures, however during winter months it is usually dry, warm and humid and summer's are known for having very hot, humid and stormy conditions. The global wind that mainly impacts Haiti are winds that curve to the left also known as westerly winds which flow between 30 and 60 degrees. Haiti mostly experiences orographic precipitation, this is due to its mountainous topography. Heavy rains occur mostly from March to November taking a break in July and orographic precipitation takes place because of Haiti's abundance of mountainous barriers. Haiti however also experiences convectional precipitation aswell because of the hot and humid temperatures in the summer the heat from the ground heats up the air, forcing it upwards in a rapid fashion making it lighter as it accelerates into the atmosphere causing it to condense as it reaches cooler temperatures and resulting in precipitation.