Fishermen in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, say an increase in storms and storm warnings – which mean it is too dangerous to enter the deep sea – has affected their livelihoods. Last year there were a record four cyclones in the Bay of Bengal. In 2015, there was just one

Owners at the dry fish yards in Cox’s Bazar say the changing weather has had a big impact on business in recent years. They blame higher storm surges on a rapid rise in sea levels, which has flooded the land and ruined the fish. Because the rains have started coming even in the dry season, it has become difficult to dry what catches they have

Villagers cross the bridge linking Kutubdia shanty town, in Cox’s Bazar, with the dry fish yards, where many of them work

Children learning English at the school in Kutubdia para, or neighbourhood, Cox’s Bazar. Many villagers are migrants who fled nearby Kutubdia island after they lost their lands when a cyclone hit in 1991

A woman prepares a meal in Kutubdia para. The shanty town is home to an estimated 40,000 people but has no health centre

The Bangladesh government has built a sloped, three-metre high embankment to protect Kutubdia island from the rapidly rising tide

A row of mangrove trees are all that remains of a village in the Ali Akbar Dale area, southern Kutubdia island, which disappeared under the sea five years ago. The sea level in nearby Cox’s Bazar is one of the fastest rising in the world. Villagers who lost their ancestral land now live on the embankment

A flooded village in Ali Akbar Dale that was hit by a storm surge. Bangladesh is ranked among the most climate vulnerable nations in the world, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

A cyclone shelter on Kutubdia island, installed as part of a government scheme that, alongside warning systems, has dramatically reduced lives lost during cyclones in the country

A makeshift house built on top of the embankment of Kutubdia. Sandbags have been piled up to try to protect the temporary dwelling from flooding. Many villagers here are landless, and therefore forced to occupy the only ground available, which is often the most vulnerable to extreme weather

Villagers from the fishing communities of Ali Akbar Dale. They have to move their homes several times a year because of flooding from the high tides. They fear the sea-level rise will swallow the island altogether

Villagers in Ali Akbar Dale have piled up sandbags at the most vulnerable spots, where the concrete embankment has been breached, to try to stop water flooding their homes

A man builds a new house in Ali Akbar Dale. The extreme weather events that have had such an impact on communities here are predicted to increase with climate change

The construction of concrete blocks, on a coastal road in Cox’s Bazar. Environmental campaigners who help the communities here say repairs to the embankments are frequently needed after they are breached by the sea

Fields of salt farms on Kutubdia. Farmers say they changed their land use 10 years ago, when sea water entered the agricultural land, spoiling the crops

Salt farming is more lucrative, the farmers say, but makes for back-breaking and time-consuming work

For centuries, the ocean has supported the livelihoods of the people of Kutubdia para, in Cox’s Bazar, and Kutubdia island. But the rising sea levels along the coast have brought fresh challenges. UN scientists predict some of the worst impacts of climate change will occur in south-east Asia. They believe more than 25 million people in Bangladesh will be at risk from sea-level rise by 2050