Experts Warn Florida About Climate Change

189173 Resource 107524 107631 107631 1194636421869 1194636786259 Controlled Climate Change Experts Warn Florida

More destructive hurricanes and rising sea levels could make Southern Florida unlivable if climate change continues unchecked.

This week, three panels of experts spoke at a symposium held by the House Environmental Resources Council and three related committees.  The <a title="FOX News article - Climate Change Experts Warn Florida" href="http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Nov06/0,4670,ClimateChange,00.html" target="_blank">effects of climate change</a> to the state of Florida were discussed in detail.Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, has attempted to put the state in the lead by ordering that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 2000 levels by the year 2017, to 1990 levels by 2025 and 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.<div class="quigo quigo1" _extended="true">Economist David Montgomery, a business consultant from Washington, D.C., said Crist's goals will be difficult, if not impossible, to meet without a significant reduction in the demand for electrical power through such approaches as a carbon cap-and-trade system or carbon taxes. That's because other options for reducing emissions are limited, he said.</div><div class="quigo quigo1" _extended="true"></div><div class="quigo quigo1" _extended="true"></div><div class="quigo quigo1" _extended="true">Tufts University economics professor Gilbert Metcalf said,  that Florida and California, which also has a greenhouse reduction policy, can put pressure on the federal government to adopt a national program because businesses don't like the idea of dealing with a patchwork of different state requirements.In the meantime, scientists said Florida can expect more frequent and destructive hurricanes, hotter weather and rising sea levels that could inundate coastal areas.Harold Wanless, chairman of the University of Miami's Department of Geological Sciences, predicted a 1.5 foot <a title="Sea Level Illustrations from USA Today" href="http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2007-11-07-florida-climate-change_N.htm" target="_blank">rise in sea level</a> in 50 years and a three- to five-foot increase by the end of the century. At two feet, South Florida would still be livable, Wanless said."Three feet's going to get messy," he said. "Four feet becomes extremely difficult to live in South Florida and five feet probably impossible."</div> 9 application/xml climate change Florida Experts Warn Florida About Climate Change Scientists and economists Tuesday warned lawmakers of consequences Florida faces from climate change, but they also said the state could be a leader in reducing global warming. http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Nov06/0,4670,ClimateChange,00.html Global Warming Threatens Florida The changing climate will have a profound effect on the Sunshine State's citizens, economy and environment. http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/nflorida.asp Experts warn Florida about climate change From USA Today - includes illustrations http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2007-11-07-florida-climate-change_N.htm false Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; InfoPath.1) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 cdarwin false true false false true 205814 false false true false false false true 107524 blog blogsite/Enviance/web