by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 19, 2024
Throughout the week, Belize City residents have been maneuvering through streets in the downtown and coastal areas of the old capital that have been overflowing with water.
This is the work of a phenomenon called “King Tide” which occurs three or four times a year. King tides occur when the orbits and alignment of the moon and sun combine to produce the greatest tidal effects of the year, and are greater when the moon or sun is closer to the Earth.
In this case, the moon is closest to the Earth.
“We know that tides occur because of the gravitational pull that the moon exerts on the Earth, and the sun, of course, but the moon is much closer. So that has a more significant impact in terms of affecting the tides,” Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist at the National Meteorology Service of Belize, said.
As mentioned above, King Tide is an event that occurs multiple times per year; however, as the years pass, it has become more severe in Belize, which could be an effect of climate change.
“We don’t have measurements, unfortunately, so, it is strictly anecdotal evidence that we are referring to here. They appear to be higher each time or each year, and based on the predictions from the climate models, there is likely to be, or there is to be an increasing sea level due to climate change and global warming,” Gordon said.
He went on to mention, “If you add the effects of the tides along with that, then you will get higher tides, especially during these times; and from what I understand, listening to other sources, we also have a situation where the rivers, or the Belize River, in particular, is a bit higher than normal.”
In the wake of the King Tide affecting the arteries of Belize City, Deputy Mayor of Belize City, Allan Pollard echoed similar sentiments to the media, that it is a result of climate change.
“I’ve never seen streets being that flooded without any rainfall, so it just shows that it’s not up … it’s not so much of a drainage issue, but just climate change in general. Someone sent me a video of the area by [the] hangar [area] yesterday to see the sea level that high, as well. It just shows overall what we’re going through is very alarming, and we have to make sure that, you know, we’re putting the right measures in,” he said.
Pollard said what is happening is beyond their control, but noted that the water is decreasing in certain areas of the city.
The King Tide is projected to last until September 23 and return in October, November, and December.