Due to its favorable climate, the Caribbean region is vital for global coffee production. In Costa Rica, unpredictable weather patterns are disrupting growth cycles. Coffee berries are now ripening months earlier than expected.

Climate change impacts on coffee production lead some growers, like Luis Arturo Bonilla who is passionate about sustainability and regeneration, to adopt new agricultural practices to sustain their livelihoods.

Coffee production relies on seasonal labor. At Ricardo Calderón’s farm, 80% of workers are Panamanian and 15% Nicaraguan. With growing production uncertainty, some laborers consider leaving the region, while others abandon migration entirely.

Today, the Dota region attracts migrants. However,  decades ago, locals moved to the U.S. Some returned to support coffee agriculture. León Cortés, a third-generation coffee producer and son of a returnee, is now a respected roaster at Café Haug.

Many companies across the globe are transforming production to reduce carbon emissions. The Coopedota cooperative is the world’s first carbon-neutral coffee processor. Moreover, it promotes sustainable practices amongst its 1,100 members.

Maria Juanita Solano works on a coffee farm that’s planting drought-resistant crops and diversifying to adapt to an unpredictable climate. These efforts aim to ensure people can keep enjoying coffee while boosting the farm's resilience.

The smokestacks of the cruise ship Margaritaville at Sea. Despite growing climate threats, Grand Bahamians depend on tourism to sustain their economy.

The crumbling remains of a building are a stark reminder of Hurricane Dorian’s 2019 devastation. The Category 5 storm, the worst in Bahamian history, left lasting physical damage and deeply impacted Grand Bahamian society.

The abandoned Arawak Hotel looms behind flood-ravaged Caribbean pines. A failed development project, it was left in ruins long before 21st-century hurricanes ushered in a new era of economic and ecological challenges.

A tattered Bahamian flag flutters beside a tarp-covered school in this fishing village, where many buildings remain too damaged or costly to repair. Five years after the devastation, their owners are left in limbo.

Amid the wreckage of a home where a family endured the fury of Hurricane Dorian, a broader dilemma for Bahamians emerges: Stay and rebuild to face worsening storms or leave and lose the place they call home. 

A 50-year-old fig tree in the botanical garden memorializes the lives cut short by Hurricane Dorian. Officially, 70 lives were lost, but hundreds, including many undocumented Haitian migrants, remain missing after the Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Dorian’s two-day storm surge greatly impacted Grand Bahamians and their natural environment, killing off many Caribbean pine trees on the island. Estimates suggest it could take up to 60 years for the forest to fully regrow.

Caribbean pine trees grow on George and Sissel Johnson’s property. Traumatized by Hurricane Dorian, they left Grand Bahama. Yet, seeing the land heal, they have returned even though the island is an evacuation zone for future Category 5 storms.

A cruise ship docks at Freeport. Bahamians have survived multiple hurricanes in the last decades. Could climate change jeopardize tourism as the lifeblood of its economy?

Agriculture supports millions in the Caribbean, including Norlan Noel Vilchez who works on Luis Arturo Bonilla’s farm. Without adaptation measures, climate change could upend their livelihoods and push many into poverty.

The owners of the Mercedes Farm are diversifying their crops to adapt to climate change. This provides more resilience and stable work for farm hands like Alfonso Martínez, who settled in Costa Rica after seven years of seasonal migration. 

Many Ngäbe, Indigenous people from southern Costa Rica and Panama, migrate seasonally to work in the coffee harvest. Mamerto Abrego has spent 15 years on the same farm and is now largely settled in Costa Rica with his family.

Albaro Casco Mejía works in Costa Rica and sends remittances to his family in Nicaragua. Many fellow Nicaraguans (have begun to) leave for the U.S. as climate change upends work on the coffee farms, but he plans to stay in Costa Rica.

Rafael Abrego, a Ngäbe from Panama, migrated with his family to San Vito in southern Costa Rica. Limited job opportunities led him to Dota. He now sends remittances, a vital connection to his family and community back home.

Carlos Gómez Trejos moved from Guanacaste in the northeast 8 years ago because changing weather patterns made work increasingly unstable. He’s part of a larger exodus out of flood- and drought-prone farmlands that is reshaping the region.

Andrés Miranda Guerra, a Ngäbe from Panama, moved to Costa Rica twenty years ago for better job prospects. As coffee harvests - and thus job opportunities - falter due to climate change he is forced to consider moving back to Panama.

Marla Abrego Miranda, the daughter of migrant workers, plays in a hammock at home. Soon to start kindergarten, Marla is part of a generation of children of Nicaraguan and Panamanian migrants who attend local schools.

Anabel Hidalgo, academic coordinator at Copey de Dota School, has observed fluctuations in student enrollment since 2016. Climate-driven shifts in seasonal migration affect the school attendance of Ngäbe and Nicaraguan children.

Cousins Cristina Baker and María Palacios, born to Panamanian migrants, explore lantern ideas for Costa Rican Independence Day. While the new generation embraces the local customs, their parents worry that they may be forced to leave.

After Hurricane Dorian, many buildings were reinforced and elevated.  Others were left unfinished. The climate adaptation challenge will grow with the severity of the hazards and the dwindling of local resources.

Hurricane Dorian forced thousands to seek refuge in schools and churches. Five years later, the Seventh-day Adventist Church opened the first official hurricane shelter on Grand Bahama. It can accommodate between 250 and 300 people.

Members of the Regency Theater sing together during a cocktail fundraiser in Freeport. Many Bahamians find solace in performing arts and other community events to cope with their trauma and loss following Hurricane Dorian.

Rico Cargill, Senior Environmental Inspector at the Grand Bahama Port Authority, sees overlooked possibilities to boost coastal resilience and the blue & green economies of the island, which would reduce the need to migrate.

Community-led projects build local capacity for climate adaptation. At Waterkeepers Bahamas, Joseph Darville and Javan Hunt grow mangroves and educate others about their essential role in sustaining coastal defenses and marine life. 

Aquaculture technician Kristian Moree demonstrates how microalgae are used to feed queen conch larvae. The Queen Conch Mariculture Center operates a mobile hatchery to restore declining conch fisheries and support marine ecosystems.

Grand Bahama's freshwater resources are at risk of saltwater contamination from hurricane-driven ocean swells. Bahama Pure Water and Ice, uses reverse osmosis filtration to provide a steady supply of fresh water to the community.

Earthcare volunteer Jahrin Ellis teaches grade 4-6 students about the importance of the queen conch through ‘Conch in the Classroom,’ an interactive program to engage youth in ecosystem restoration and ocean sustainability.

Alesha Bullard and her mother Nyiesha join her school in cleaning Gold Rock Beach on International Coastal Cleanup Day. Involving students in local environmental stewardship prepares the next generation of leaders.