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Mangroves are also useful for flood control and storm protection. At the Tolomato Matanzas Research Reserve, mangroves create a flood barrier during storms, thereby protecting trees. Mangroves also produce soil, which helps maintain the height of the coastline.[46] |
Economically destructive red tides are expected to continue as a result of pollution and warming water.[11] |
Impact on human health |
Florida and the U.S. Southeast region face many health-related threats due to tropical storms, sea level rise, extreme heat, and drought.[47] |
Flooding and Tropical Cyclones |
Florida is a low-lying state and is estimated to be the state in the U.S. with the largest population and proportion of population living in the low-elevation coastal zone.[48] Sea level rise threatens to increase flooding. Of an estimated 590,000 people in South Florida vulnerable to sea level rise, it is estimated th... |
Tropical cyclones like hurricanes can threaten health in a variety of ways: flooding, strong winds, hazards in the recovery period after a storm, evacuation and displacement, and mental health impacts. |
In the United States, drowning is the leading cause of flooding-related death, particularly due to powerful storm surges.[50] Storms can directly threaten lives and also cause power outages due to winds and/or flooding. In Florida, power outages after Hurricane Irma were associated with higher mortality in nursing home... |
Evacuation and displacement due to a storm can impact health. During the evacuation process, people can lose or forget medication and devices such as hearing aids or dentures and may have difficulty filling prescriptions.[52] |
Recovery after a major storm can involve heavy construction and exposure to hazardous materials in floodwaters such as sewage, chemicals, and sharp or broken objects.[53] Dampness after flooding can facilitate mold growth, which is common after flooding in Florida; Florida's hot and humid climate creates favorable cond... |
Compared to less developed areas of the world, threats of infectious, respiratory, and diarrheal diseases are low in high income/ developed countries like the U.S. but are more prevalent following flooding events.[50] |
Longer-term health impacts include impacts on mental health and pregnancy outcomes. Flooding puts people at higher risk of mental health challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression.[55] A study of Hurricane Charley in Florida found that exposure to higher wind speeds increased risk of pre... |
Extreme Heat |
The impacts on health of climate change fueled extreme heat are anticipated to be minimal due to Florida's already warm climate that means that much of the population is acclimatized, or adjusted, to heat and most buildings have air conditioning installed.[57] However, extreme heat may still be a threat to older adults... |
Wildfires |
While Florida doesn’t make headlines for wildfires as much as other U.S. states like California and Colorado, it too is vulnerable to wildfires, which can have many health impacts, such as on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.[60] Florida wildfires are most frequent under hot and dry conditions and many fires ... |
Mosquito-borne diseases |
A closeup of a black and white Aedes aegypti mosquito on a green leaf |
An Aedes aegypti mosquito on a leaf. CC BY-SA 4.0 by Wee Hong |
Southern Florida already has a high suitability for mosquito-borne diseases because it is habitable for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry viruses like those that cause Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.[49] Future climate change projections predict that much of the Southeastern U.S. will be vulnerable to mos... |
Population Vulnerability |
A considerable proportion of Florida’s population has characteristics that may make them more vulnerable to health impacts or that may pose barriers to accessing healthcare; approximately 21.6% of Florida's population is over the age of 65, 21.0% are foreign born, 12.7% live below the federal poverty level, and approxi... |
Impact of climate change on real estate in coastal areas |
color-coded shaded relief map generated with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. For the view on the right, elevations below 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level have been colored dark blue, and lighter blue indicates elevations below 10 meters (33 feet). |
Sign thanking linemen and first responders after Hurricane Michael, Chattahoochee 2019 |
In 2017, the real estate website Zillow wrote that if climate predictions were correct, by 2100 "One in eight Florida homes would be under water, accounting for nearly half of the lost housing value nationwide." This calculation was based on comparing NOAA maps for a 6-foot sea level rise with the Zillow database of ho... |
Real estate website Curbed has presented a table with impacted cities in Florida, homes at risk, and dollar estimates. Curbed has estimated that "Roughly 64,000 homes—including 12,000 in Miami Beach, a nexus of real estate investment—will face chronic flooding," and has described how changes are needed in National Floo... |
A 2018 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, titled: Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate stated that Florida is the state with the most homes at risk from climate change: "about 1 million homes (more than 10% of the state's current residential properties)."[65... |
Officials in the Florida Keys found that it would take 75 million dollars to save three miles of road serving about two dozen homes. A December 2019 New York Times article describing the decisions facing Monroe County was titled, "Florida Keys Deliver a Hard Message: As Seas Rise, Some Places Can't Be Saved."[66] Some ... |
Climate gentrification is increasing real estate values in parts of Miami that are at higher elevation, and decreasing values in lower-elevation areas.[68] By 2017, two poor black neighborhoods of Miami which are located on higher ground, Little Haiti and Liberty City, started becoming more attractive to investors.[69]... |
One flood assessment company describes the South Florida housing market as being kept afloat by "systemic fraudulent nondisclosure" of flood risks to property.[72][73] A bill passed by the US House of Representatives to require real estate agents to disclose flood risks had not made it through the Senate as of February... |
Climate change education |
Flooding evacuation, Melbourne |
Florida's climate change education standard states: "Identify, analyze, and relate the internal (earth system) and external (astronomical) conditions that contribute to global climate change." The standard falls short of the Next Generation Science Standards, which have been adopted by 20 states and the District of Col... |
Local climate mitigation efforts |
Miami-Dade County has built seawalls,[75] implemented an Urban CO2 Reduction Plan,[76] and participates in the South Florida Regional Climate Compact.[77] Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has pledged to make the city carbon neutral by 2050.[41] |
Pensacola has formed a Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Task Force which meets monthly.[78][79][80] |
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was "one of the nation's first mayors to sign onto the Climate Mayors' Pledge." Orlando plans to convert its city vehicle fleet to alternative fuels by 2030.[81] |
Sarasota's Climate Adaption and Mitigation Center has been funded to work on "a curated database of peer-reviewed science to inform decision-making in academia, government and the private sector."[82] |
In North Central Florida, where climate change denial is stronger, climate change efforts were starting to be visible in 2020 in Gainesville, Alachua County, St. Augustine and Jacksonville.[83] |
In Broward County's Oakland Park, drainage installed with a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant prevented damage to 400 homes during Hurricane Irma.[84] |
Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason has said, "We're working hard to create solutions until we inevitably must retreat."[85] |
South Florida climate adaptation strategies |
Climate journalism |
The South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, along with WLRN Public Media, have formed a collaboration to cover climate change issues. The collaboration provides news and feature coverage, and a website created by its editorial boards titled: The Invading Sea, Florida and the Climate Crisis.[86][87... |
Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact |
The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact is a partnership between Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach Counties. Its goal is "to work collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, implement adaptation strategies, and build climate resilience."[77] |
Integrative Collaborative on Climate and Energy (ICCE) |
The Florida Center for Environmental Studies at Florida Atlantic University has formed an Integrative Collaborative on Climate and Energy (ICCE) focused on issues of climate adaptation in Florida's urban and natural systems. Partners include the Florida Climate Initiative, the University of South Florida, and various g... |
Miami-Dade County Climate Programs |
Miami has been described as "ground zero" for climate change and sea level rise."[89] The Miami-Dade County Office of Resilience has implemented climate programs and a Climate Action Plan,[90][91] and there is a Sea Level Rise Committee.[92] Protecting the water supply and the Biscayne Aquifer is a priority.[23][24][25... |
The South Florida rocklands ecoregion, in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, occurs in southern Florida and the Florida Keys in the United States, where they would naturally cover an area of 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi). These forests form on limestone outcrops with very thin soil;[2] the higher eleva... |
Pine rockland |
Description |
The pine rocklands are a critically imperiled ecosystem located in southern Florida, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Cuba. Its location in south Florida and throughout the Caribbean Archipelago straddles the southern and northern ends of the temperate and tropical flora ranges, respectively.[4] This helps ex... |
Distribution |
In south Florida, pine rocklands occur in Miami-Dade County, Monroe County, the Lower Keys, Everglades National Park, and Big Cypress National Preserve, but can also be found throughout the Caribbean Archipelago. Despite its range, the pine rocklands are limited in distribution.[4] Urban development, agricultural expan... |
Physiography |
The pine rocklands in Miami-Dade County and Everglades National Park are found on limestone substrates along the Miami Rock Ridge, an exposed oolitic limestone matrix 2–7 meters above sea level that extends from northern Miami to the southern Everglades with disjunct sections in the Lower Keys.[4] This limestone is ext... |
This interaction between elevation and water is particularly evident in Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park. Sections of Long Pine Key flood anywhere from 20 to 60 days per year.[10] However, the hydrology of south Florida has changed drastically since the 1950s due to urban expansion and increased agricultural p... |
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