Increased sea temperatures cause major coral bleaching events. When bleaching happens, corals become very vulnerable to other forms of stress like diseases and bites, which has resulted in die-off events in the past.
Less oxygen in seas. Less oxygen favor slow-moving species like jellyfish, but not fast swimming species like marlins, sailfish, sharks, tunas or kingfish, disturbing migration, and fisheries. We can expect more localized mass deaths of fish in pockets near the coast that suffer from less oxygen in the future (Baai/Boca).
More sick corals and fish across the Caribbean. Scientists describe an unprecedented range of new and emerging disease occurrence and widespread algal blooms as well. this year’s green sea period extended from March to August.
The sea-level is expected to rise due to melting glaciers and ice patches.

Beaches will be engulfed and cause the coast to break away, infrastructural damage can be expected for real estate and Aruba’s health care infrastructure, like the hospital facilities. Our flood sensitive areas are: Zeewijk, Pos Chiquito, Madiki, Eagle, Palm beach, Malmok, Modanza and parts of Boroncana.
Additionally, impacts from extreme weather events will be stronger because corals, mangroves, seagrasses and saliñas protect our coasts.
The Caribbean basin is one of the most vulnerable areas on the planet for ocean acidification. The sea acts as a sink of greenhouse gasses and this changes the acid it is. This acidification will affect the skeleton of corals, shellfish, and other crustaceans.

High temperatures will destroy the quality of the Organic Matter (OM) in the soil. This will affect our local traditional crops and our food production and security. Climate-resilient crops like Maïshi Rabo will be an important staple of the future.
More ‘pests’ or vectors of disease such as mosquitos and flies affecting Aruba’s population health. We can expect more diseases that are borne from vectors like mosquitos and flies, but also other potential vectors, like we experienced in COVID19. Especially since most of our adult population already suffers from overweight, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, we are vulnerable.
Heat stress will affect how and when species interact with each other and change their reproduction and migration behavior. Changing the patterns that were previously described. We can expect that October “Luna di flor” will severely change in the future. That means that seasonal food like peanut crops will be affected.

More invasive species have been introduced to Aruba over the past few years: aloe vera, goats, cats, boas, neem tree, rubber vine, lionfish, snails and most recently, beetles. Wind patterns are expected to change, which may cause an easier spread of wind-borne invasive species (especially plants, like ‘Cordon di San Francisco’).

Local measures to reduce climate change as the rest of the large nations are doing, will not result in less impact. The idea as that we start preparing for these impacts by adapting to what is changing and start focusing on resilience building. We as locals are the change drivers towards resilience, and as designers, artists, we can inspire and communicate the needed change through fashion, by using for example regenerative textile and heat sensitive colors.