Climate Branch needs meteorologists

News Climate Branch needs meteorologists Stock photo of meteorologist The island's Climate Branch, which is responsible for maintaining a current database of the climate here and using this data to guide the productive sectors, has been hit by an exodus of meteorologists, already limited in number, who have been wooed by higher-paying companies.According to head of the Climate Branch Jacqueline Spence, at least four meteorologists left the entity last year alone.Housed at the Meteorological Headquarters, the Climate Branch consists of a data acquisition section that sets up and maintains an islandwide network of rainfall and climatological stations; a data processing section that gathers, archives and analyses the climatological data with a view to monitoring and assessing the climate of the island; and an applied meteorology section that processes the needs of clients, which include crop water requirements, design criteria for hydrologists and engineers, and climatological information for resolving weather-related legal and insurance issues.The Climate Branch head said less than competitive salaries contribute further to the problem.

She said the posts have not been filled given the ongoing government salary review for public sector workers.She said it was hoped that at the end of the public sector compensation review, which began in 2022 to overhaul the structure of salaries and other emoluments in the public service to make them more equitable, the entity will be able to retain the experts.