Observed changes-including increases in air and ocean temperatures, increases in storm surges, heavy rainfall events, and possibly more intense tropical cyclones-are already reducing the number and quality of ecosystem services, thereby causing the disruption of human livelihoods, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and loss of economic activities and cultural heritage on small islands. Widespread observed impacts include severe coral reef bleaching events, such as that associated with the 2015-2016 El Niño season, the most damaging on record worldwide. Additionally, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was unusually characterised by sequential severe TCs that resulted in widespread cyclone-induced damage to ecosystems from the very interior of small islands to those of the ocean waters that surround them as well as damage to human settlements and economic activities within the whole Caribbean region. Although knowledge is limited regarding long-term increases in TC intensity, studies have shown that heavy rainfall and intense wind speed of individual TCs were increased by climate change. The combination of various climate events, such as TCs, extreme ocean waves, and El Niño or La Niña phases, with SLR causes increased coastal flooding, especially on low-lying atoll islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans.
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report