State of the Jamaican climate 2015: information for resilience building (summary for policy makers)

This document summarizes the key points of the full State of the Climate Jamaica 2015 report, in order to provide a methodology for incorporating the wealth of information in decision making. It does so by summarizing the three take away messages in 4 Steps. Within the context of decision making, 4 Steps that should guide the incorporation of climate information in decision making are:

• Step 1: Take a good look around. Mean patterns of climate provide an initial basis for decision making
• Step 2: Take a good look again. Trends in the present climate must be borne in mind in decision making
• Step 3: Take a good look ahead. Trends in future climate make the inclusion of climate information a must for decision making
• Step 4: Take a good look at ourselves. What we know about our climate sensitivity should our decision making

The full State of the Climate Jamaica 2015 report was produced because of a growing recognition that climate data and information specific to Jamaica are required for planning purposes. The State of the Climate Jamaica 2015 provides a comprehensive but concise overview of what is known about Jamaica’s climate from a survey of available literature complemented by data analysis. The full document is intended as a first (but not last) reference point for Jamaican climate information, particularly for decision makers.