Climate Change in Florida

Climate Change in Florida
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Climate Change in Florida
Florida is more at risk from climate change, and more than 8 million people are affected. South Florida is faced with modern environmental challenges from rising seas to contaminated drinking water, hurricanes, flooding, vanishing habitat, and wildlife. Over the past century, Florida's temperature has increased by 2 degrees (F) and is estimated by the American environmental protection agency to rise by 8 degrees (F) by the year 2050. The climate is changing because of global warming caused by a 60% increase in anthropogenic carbon emissions for the past decade. Greenhouse gases are impacting negatively on ice covers and the world's oceans, which are turning acidic. The familiar heatwaves in Florida impact negatively on the state by causing dangerous conditions for residents like stroke, heat exhaustion, muscle cramps, and early melting of snow during spring, convert rangelands to deserts, decrease the flow of the Colorado River, threaten livestock health, and raise the frequency of wildfires. Both local, national, and international organizations demand change for climate change in Florida.
It rarely snows in the U.S. state of Florida. Climate change reduces snowfalls or the amount of snow that accumulates over in Florida during the winter seasons. Increased climate warming leads to reduced snowfall due to the high melting of snow during winter. The state has a low latitude climate, and high temperatures do not support snowfall. The environmental protection agency shows a decreased snowfall level since the 1970s, as evidenced by fewer mountainous regions and the southern side in Miami and Palm Beach (Vella et al., 2016). The diminishing snowfall lowers water supplies and shortens winter sports like skiing and other recreational activities. Climate change in the region impacts negatively on water availability. The supply of water is decreased whereas the need is increased. Higher temperatures in the area lead to increased evaporation rates affecting the soil, plants, and farmlands, which require more water. Mountain snow-packs act as natural reservoirs, but dams capture more melted water over the past 60 years, but reservoirs contain less water during droughts (Keenan et al., 2018). Thus, adverse climatic conditions will lead to drier soils, short rain periods, and severe drought.
Climate change in Florida causes more droughts, an aspect that impacts the state's agriculture sector. Top agricultural products like vegetables, cattle, and dairy are affected by hot temperatures. Similarly, wildfires that occur practically reduce clean air and change the landscapes. Dry and warm conditions cause the forests to be susceptible to pests year-round. Pests feed on plants and also cause diseases. Besides, hot seasons are unhealthy and cause dehydration. Moreover, respiratory or heart diseases like asthma are escalated, leading to premature d...