Florida

Global climate change poses risks to human health and to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Important economic resources such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and water resources also may be affected. Warmer temperatures, more severe droughts and floods, and sea level rise could have a wide range of impacts. All these stresses can add to existing stresses on resources caused by other influences such as population growth, land-use changes, and pollution.

Climate Change in Florida

Below are some of the potential impacts:

• By 2100 temperatures in Florida could increase by 3-4°F (with a range of 1-6°F) in spring, summer, and fall, and by somewhat less in winter. At Ocala, the 1892-1921 average temperature was almost 67°F; the 1966-1995 average temperature was over 69°F.
• Precipitation over the last hundred years has decreased in the Keys and parts of south Florida, and increased in central Florida and the panhandle.
• Global sea level rise is one of the most likely effects of global warming. Along much of the Florida coast, the sea level is already rising 7-9 inches per century, a rate which will likely grow to 18-20 inches by 2100. Because of local factors such as land subsidence and groundwater depletion, sea level rise will vary by location.
• Possible responses to sea level rise include building walls to hold back the sea, allowing the sea to advance and adapting to it, and raising the land (e.g., by replenishing beach sand and/or elevating houses and infrastructure). Each of these responses would be costly, either in out-of-pocket costs or in lost land and structures. For example, the cumulative cost of sand replenishment to protect Florida’s coast from a 20-inch rise in sea level by 2100 is estimated at $1.7-$8.8 billion. sea level rise update
• The Big Cypress Swamp, the Everglades, and the Keys are already stressed by water diversions, invading species of plants and animals, and the natural phenomena of drought, flood, and storms, these ecosystems will be stressed further by climate change. A 20-inch sea level rise would cause large losses of mangroves in southwest Florida. Increased salinity, resulting from rising saltwater into the Everglades from Florida Bay, also would damage freshwater ecosystems containing sawgrass and slough. Communities of wet prairie also would decline with the rise in sea level.
• Warmer seas could contribute to the increased intensity, duration, and extent of harmful algal blooms. These blooms damage habitat and shellfish nurseries, can be toxic to humans, and can carry bacteria like those causing cholera. In turn, algal blooms potentially can lead to higher incidence of water-borne cholera and shellfish poisoning. Acute poisoning related to the consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish has been reported in Florida.

The above are based on from the Environmental Protection Agency's report on climate change, which uses data from the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001).

For more info on climate change impacts on Florida's water resources, agriculture, forests and ecosystems, you can download pdf of full EPA Report.

CO2: How Does Your State Rank?

Florida is the highest emitter of C02 of all 50 states and the most populous.

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Maps

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Regional Initiatives

This state does not participate in any regional initiatives.

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