IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER RESOURCE ENGINEERING IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

A. CHADEE, M. NARRA, D. MEHTA, J. ANDREW, H. AZAMATHULLA

Abstract


The detection of rainfall trends is vital for water resource development in small island states such as Trinidad and Tobago. This study investigates whether climate change affects rainfall trends and conducts statistical analysis of annual, seasonal, and decadal cumulative rainfall data obtained from two meteorological stations in Trinidad and Tobago for the period 1990-2020. Using XLSTAT, the nonparametric Mann–Kendall’s test was conducted at a 5% significance level to detect whether trends in the rainfall data existed, and the nonparametric Sen’s slope estimator was used to detect the magnitude of the trends. The results showed no statistically significant trends in Trinidad and Tobago’s annual, seasonal, or decadal rainfall over the 30 years considered. This result indicates that Trinidad and Tobago are safe from abrupt changes in rainfall trends due to climate change and highlights the significance of conducting localized climate studies rather than solely depending on the predictions of global climate models.


Keywords


Climate, Mann-Kendal test, Rainfall, Sen’s slope estimator, Trinidad and Tobago.

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