Hurricane Dorian is thought to have been one of the worst natural disasters for the Bahamas, leaving at least 70,000 people homeless and causing more than $5bn (£3.7bn) in damage in 2019. But it wasn’t just people who suffered. For one forest dwelling songbird – the Bahama nuthatch – this hurricane spelled the end.
Now a new study reveals that a significant number of species that are endemic to a single island, like the Bahama nuthatch, are at increasing risk of extinction from severe tropical cyclones, with an estimated 60 species potentially one cyclone away from being wiped out.