Climate change in Florida
A recent case study shows that climate change is a major issue in today’s Florida as it could lead to sea level rise and flooding. Tourism Industry is the top industry in Florida. Its favorable climate and appealing waterfront are what draw travelers to Florida’s coastal destinations. However, sea level rise and flooding are threatening long-term economy on the state’s tourism industry.
Sea level rise is a common phenomenon associated with climate change. Researchers state that the sea level is going to continue to rise due to increased ocean warming. As the ocean gets warm, glaciers and ice sheets will melt and turn to water. Sea level rise has huge impacts on coastal destinations such as inundation, erosion, salinity intrusion into freshwater supplies, and loss of biodiversity of the coastal ecosystem, etc. Florida’s coastal areas have more than 30,000 animal species, over 2,800 native plant species, and 45 habitats live. Some of them do not exist anywhere else in the world. It is important to protect them because some of them are essential sources of food, some of them are playing a unique ecological function, and some of them are providing important leisure opportunities.
Unfortunately, there is no state-wide climate change adaptation policy in place. The local government and the federal government should really take proper actions to cope with the impacts of climate change towards the state’s tourism industry. “With 1,800 miles of coastline and 1,200 miles of sand beaches (State of Florida Research, 2015), tourism is the number one industry in Florida. The state’s tourism industry generates $5.3 billion in sales tax revenue and employs almost 1.2 million Floridians (Seccombe, 2016). In 2015, the Sunshine state welcomed a record 105 million visitors who spent $89.1 billion, making Florida the first state to surpass the 100 million visitors mark in the USA” (Dineen, 2016). With these huge data, we can have a sense of the importance of the tourism industry in Florida. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs and suffer in their lives if the tourism industry collapses. Which would cause an economic crisis in Florida.
Florida is holding a vulnerable position to an escalating sea level rise. However, deniers say that the local government of Florida’s cities like Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, and Sarasota will not suffer in sea level rise. Which is not true.
The above picture is proof that sea level rise is actually impacting the Miami Beach. The sidewalk is being flooded at Alton Road near Michigan Avenue in Miami Beach. Flooding will diminish the value of tourism properties and economic activities over time. New research states that flooding like this could happen every single day by 2017, so a course of action should be implemented in response to climate change. If they don’t take actions immediately, they’ll have to pay a lot more when it is too late to deal with. Also, tourists would probably choose another coastal destination if they feel unsafe and uncomfortable during their stay in Florida. The destinations could not deal with the impacts of climate change their own. What better time than now to mitigate climate change? What better time than now to prevent Florida’s coastal destinations from being inundated? The government should stand out and help before the impacts become more serious in the future.
References
Atzori, R., & Fyall, A. (2018). Climate change denial: vulnerability and costs for Florida’s coastal destinations. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 1(2), 137-149.
State of Florida Research (2015), “Florida quick facts”, Retrieved from:www.stateofflorida.com/facts.aspx
Seccombe, W. (2016), “Florida tourism generated $89.1 billion in economic impact in 2015”, Visit Florida Blog, April 28, Retrieved from: www.visitfloridablog.org/?p=15486
Alex Harris, (2018) “Federal report says what Florida already knows – climate change is affecting us now”, MIAMI HERALD. Retrieved from: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article222086110.html
Dineen, C. (2016). Florida sees record tourism numbers in 2015. Orlando Sentinel.
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