More than just hurricanes: Caribbean responds to escalating climate impacts

Caribbean – A new study has found that Caribbean nations suffered $53.2bn of damage from climate-fuelled disasters between 2000 and 2024. While major climate disasters such as Hurricane Melissa (2025) and Hurricane Beryl (2024) are two such moments that caused major damage, climate advocates say that slow-onset climate impacts are just as harmful as hurricanes and floods.

Large plumes of Saharan dust have blanketed much of the Caribbean islands this past month, with countries like the Cayman Islands issuing urgent health warnings, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago seeing increased respiratory health cases at hospitals, and countries like Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic seeing a disruption of agriculture, livelihoods and education.

The economic, health and environmental impacts of slow-onset climate disasters are just as devastating as hurricanes, and often receive insufficient recovery or response resources.

Amira OdehQuiñones, Senior Organizing Specialist at 350.org Caribbean says:

“While much of the focus has been on the climate effects seen this year in the Global North, the Caribbean has been struggling for the past month with some of the worst impacts the region has seen. There have been record level heat waves, dense Saharan dust plumes making air unsafe and historic quantities of sargassum affecting our coasts. However, even though these situations affect the health and livelihoods of millions of people, it is assumed by too many across the world that these can be taken lightly just because they are not devastating hurricanes. These impacts are evidence of how those that caused the least of climate change are experiencing the worst, and they call out the urgency in which we need our local governments to implement adaptation measures that protect us before the crisis becomes more severe.”