The Caribbean: Island Arcs, Hurricanes and Tourism

The Caribbean islands vary greatly in origin. The Lesser Antilles form a volcanic island arc where the Atlantic seafloor sinks beneath the Caribbean plate, while the Bahamas are low limestone platforms built from marine sediments, and the larger islands of the Greater Antilles have complex mountain cores. These differences shape hazards: in 1995 the Soufrière Hills volcano on Montserrat began erupting, and later eruptions buried the capital, Plymouth, leaving much of the island uninhabitable.

The whole region lies in the Atlantic hurricane belt, and storms such as Hurricane Maria in 2017 caused devastating damage to Dominica and Puerto Rico. Small island economies often depend on tourism, which brings income but is sensitive to storms, global downturns and environmental damage to reefs and beaches. To strengthen their position, many Caribbean states cooperate through CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, founded in 1973. Small size also means that a single disaster can affect a large share of a country's economy at once.