Florida And Climate Change

‘We know climate change is affecting other species, so we need to get ready to see how it affects the species we have here in the Everglades.’

This week on The Florida Roundup, we featured two reports from the podcast Sea Change, from WWNO/WRKF in Louisiana. WLRN's Jenny Staletovich explored how hotter oceans are affecting the mahi. Then, WUSF's Jessica Meszaros examined the rising cost of climate risk on Florida's home insurance market. After, we spoke with Jenny and Jessica about their reporting.

For the first time, a federal study calculated the risk from rising groundwater on a warming planet. South Florida represents the vast majority of that risk, with about 7.5 million people and $750 billion dollars in property under threat.

"I’m a Republican, but I believe in climate change."

Florida already had an affordable housing and insurance crisis. Then came the 2024 hurricane season. WUSF’s Jessica Meszaros explains how climate change impacts insurance.

Key deer are now facing new perils from saltwater intrusion, development and extreme weather, which could eventually force them to be moved out of the Florida Keys entirely.

The Biden administration has approved more than $2.3 billion for those affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. Studies show the system for distributing the funds deepens historical divides.

Amy Siewe, who is well known in South Florida’s python-hunting community, is pioneering new territory in the wildlife guiding business, leading adventurous visitors on excursions to find the invasive constrictors that have overrun the Everglades.

The science about climate change’s role in hurricanes is still considered unsettled, experts told PolitiFact, but more recent studies looking at the past 40 years have found that the storms forming now tend to be stronger than in the past.

Incumbent Rick Scott, a Republican, reportedly banned the words “climate change” from state agencies as governor. Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell favors climate-resilient infrastructure.

Climate change hasn't increased the total number of hurricanes hitting the U.S., but it is making dangerous storms more common.

Scientists worry that the arrival of the weedier seagrass from the Indian Ocean could outcompete local grasses that fight hurricane storm surges, trap carbon, feed turtles and manatees and supply major seafood and fishing industries.