Programs & Projects :: Energy & Climate Change
Energy & Climate Change
Over the life of the Strategic Regional Policy Plan, climate change may very well become the defining issue in the Central Florida Region. This challenge is global nature, but the responses are ultimately local and regional. Finding new ways to meet energy needs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and face the impacts of climate change will be critical to the future success of the Central Florida Region.
 It goes without question that the Earth's climate is changing. According to a 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, historical records show the average temperature of the Earth has risen by approximately .74 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years and the rate has been considerable more rapid since the 1970's. Warming is expected to continue trhoguh the end of this century and will likely accelerate depending on future concentrations of greenhouse gases that accumulate in the atmosphere.
So why is climate change important to the Central Florida region? Only a frew degrees of warming can disrupt climate patterns and contribute to rising sea levels. Sea levels have increased approximately eighty inches over the last century. According to the IPCC report, average seal level could rise an additional four feet by the end of the 21st century depending on the speed and extent of glacial melting. This change potentially brings with it a long list of regional impacts to ecological systems, agriculture, public health, infrastructure, and commerce.
Communities should really begin to ask the question of how will glocal and local climate changes affect availability and costs for water, food, energy, and other basic needs. How might businesses and employment be altered and what new challenges and risks will climate change present to my local community? Adaption and mitigation action plans can then be properly focused and directed.
Data source is NSIDC; image from Climate Progress 061229
Roughly 1,500,000 sq km of ice has melted from the Artic Sea during the last two decades of the 20th Century.
Greenland Ice Sheet Loss
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