That's because of the warm Gulf Stream current that comes from Eastern Africa to all the way through these islands & goes through Gulf of Mexico & then moves northwards through East U.S. coast.
Ocean currents play a significant part in the climate planet, as for the Caribbean's effect being caused by the equator, all I can suggest is someone look at a map of where the Caribbean is and where the equator is. The Caribbean is actually under the Tropic of Cancer which is about 1600 miles North of the equator.
Warm currents can make regions warmer and wetter like the U.K. and the North Atlantic current, cold currents can cool and dry like the Humboldt current and Peru/Chile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Cu...
It is surrounded by a warm ocean and also has trade winds which blow across the Atlantic, the ocean is a great moderator it takes such a long time to warm up or cool down, plus all the moisture in the air will moderate also, ie deserts are hot during day but cold at night.
A warm ocean current called the Gulf Stream Drift, details here.
http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atl...
Look at a map, first, dude... https://www.google.es/search?q=map+of+ca... . Pick one... Now that you have one in front of your eyeballs, you'll see that they is nearer to the equator where all the ocean water is exposed to direct and nearly-direct sunlight which warms the water rather nicely. And of course, the islands are at sea-level, which keeps them nice and warm, almost hot, during the winter months.
It's near the equator and its warm all around there
Please help. It's for a homework assignment.
