October 14, 2024
Climate change will only make future hurricane seasons worse. So why are Florida lawmakers acting like nothing happened?
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Residents are rescued from a flooded apartment complex in Clearwater, Florida, after Hurricane Milton passes through on October 10, 2024.
(Brian R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)
Hurricanes “Helen” and “Milton” were both scarier than any Halloween movie you might see this month. Scientists say both powerful storms were caused by climate change.
But to Florida lawmakers, climate change is as fictional as Freddy Krueger. This spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis, along with the state Legislature, passed legislation that removed most references to climate change from state law.
The sponsors of this vanished act were the following dynamic duo: Congressman Bobby Payne and senator jay collinswhich I’m starting to think is Penn & Teller in Tallahassee. Their legislation made the whole issue “sick” by removing the words “climate change” and “greenhouse gas emissions.” It was the same as when David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear.
However, there is one small problem. That means the Statue of Liberty trick was just an illusion. This was also the case. Other than our company Parliament building in the shape of a phallusclimate change isn’t going anywhere, as recent hurricanes made painfully clear.
“Sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico are at or near record levels this year, as they were last year,” said David Zielden, Florida’s state meteorologist. Zieden runs the Florida Climate Center at Florida State University, which monitors weather and climate data and provides research on regional climate change. (I’m happy to report that the dumb people in our Legislature haven’t removed his job yet like they did when they edited state law.)
The oceans are absorbing much of the heat from the planet’s steady warming. Hurricanes derive their power from the heat of the water they pass, and recent storms were likely to intensify quickly as the Gulf of Mexico became the hottest on record. How quickly? this is how new york times As for Helen: “In less than a day, Helen will change from a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday morning to a Category 4 hurricane by Thursday afternoon, making it the strongest hurricane ever to hit Florida’s Big Bend coast.” It was reported.
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Milton followed the same strategy. In less than 10 hours, the disaster grew from a hurricane to a Category 5 disaster. Phil Klotzbach, a Colorado State University hurricane researcher, told The Associated Press that it was “everything that someone looking for a severe storm could hope for.”
The warmth in the water also holds more water in the atmosphere, making it very humid. As with Helen, the storm will bring more rain, Zierden explained. “This is part of what happened in North Carolina,” he said.
Finally, Zierden said rising sea levels play a role in making storm surges even worse. “Everyone’s talking about record storm surge, but at least a foot of that is caused by sea level rise,” he told me.
Let’s put it all together. Hot water corresponds to electricity, humid air corresponds to heavy rain, and rising sea levels correspond to massive storm surges. Can you see how these storms are created by changes in our climate as surely as the terrifying creatures were created by Dr. Frankenstein?
Other scientists have come to the same conclusion. in fact, A recently published scientific study Researchers found that from 1979 to 2020, the near-coastal development of all types of cyclones increased globally, driven by ocean heating. The study predicted that this phenomenon will continue to increase, not just in Florida but everywhere.
This is not surprising. Sixty federal scientists predicted all this a decade ago. 3rd National Climate Assessment. And despite DeSantis and Congress’ strange omissions, we’re seeing evidence of climate change all the time here in Florida. You can witness the warning signs of global warming. Changes in the gender balance of sea turtle hatchlingscontrolled by the temperature of the beach sand where they hatch. It can also be detected by Seawater becomes more acidic Around Florida.
A new mapping tool called , shows even more of the negative impact it’s having on Florida. Florida’s climate future. The tool, created by the Environmental Defense Fund, looks at factors such as increased heat, more frequent flooding and rising electricity costs. “We built this because we wanted to make it clear to Floridians that we already recognize the impacts of climate change on our state,” said Dawn Shirreffs, Florida EDF Director. Ta.
I was particularly interested in seeing how climate change was impacting our two politician Houdini’s local constituencies. Putnam County, the hometown of Congressman Payne, who worked for many years at one of Florida’s few power plants. coal is still burningLast year, there were 85 days when the heat index exceeded 100 degrees. In Hillsborough County, Sen. Collins’ district, there were 107 days with temperatures above 100 degrees. That’s four degrees higher than neighboring Pinellas County, where DeSantis grew up, and along with Hillsboro, it was right in Milton’s path.
DeSantis is on the fence about this issue. As a local outlet florida politics As once noted, his position “changes like the Florida coastline during a storm surge.” When he first ran for governor, he said: WLRN-FM“I’m not a global warming advocate. I don’t want to put that label on myself.”
but, Dunedin Denialists happily offered multimillion-dollar deals to companies tasked with covering up the symptoms, such as installing pumps and pipes to help coastal landowners cope with rising sea levels. But don’t touch the fossil fuels that cause it. he is against it. as he said in 2021“We’re not doing anything left-wing.”
And during his short presidential campaign, emphasizing “pain,” he took a new position: After all, climate change is real, but the way to solve it is to burn it. more About what is causing our climate change. Specifically, he asked power plants to: Increase dependence on natural gas. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal or oil. This means that the carbon footprint is relatively low.2. However, it still causes air pollution. Burning doesn’t just release carbon dioxide.2but its production leaks large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. This is like announcing that instead of driving 90 miles an hour off a cliff, you’re in favor of driving 60 miles an hour off the same cliff.
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So, back to this year when DeSantis signed the Payne and Collins bill that removed language from state law. Then he boasted Post to X“We are bringing sanity back in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of radical green fanatics.”
But the “radical green fanatics” who put that language into state law in the late 2000s his fellow Republicans. They didn’t wear tie-dyed shirts or sandals. They wore blue blazers, rep ties, and tassel loafers. This wasn’t just lip service either. In 2011, Congress passed the bill It urges the country to pursue a cap-and-trade system to limit emissions from power companies. (Unfortunately, the incoming governor, Tea Party darling Rick Scott, has recused himself from the issue.)
These people understood that rising ocean waters and temperatures were becoming a serious threat to Florida. That’s why they have set goals to reduce the use of fossil fuels and encourage clean energy alternatives like solar power. But this kind of thinking disappeared with Trump’s control of the Republican Party.
By the way, utility bills in Florida are Building an unprecedented number of solar power plants Right now. For example, Florida Power & Light, one of the state’s major electric utilities, has the largest fleet of solar farms in the country. The company has opened 78 solar energy centers in Florida, generating approximately 5,700 megawatts of electricity in 31 of Florida’s 67 counties. We’re finally starting to live up to our nickname, “The Sunshine State.”
But don’t tell DeSantis. he doesn’t want to hear it.
At an Oct. 10 press conference, he argued that linking rising ocean temperatures to more powerful hurricanes is just a flip side of the weirdos who think the federal government controls the weather. “Some people think the government can do this, and others think it’s all fossil fuels’ fault,” he complained. “Reality is what we see. There is precedent for this in history. It’s hurricane season. It’s going to be tropical.”
Is it any wonder we’re in such hot water when fossil fuel idiots like DeSantis are running the show?
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