A roundup of news items related to climate change and other environmental issues in Florida:
Thousands of Florida homes flood repeatedly. You’re not allowed to know which ones | Miami Herald
Between “rain bombs” and drenching from no-name storms, hundreds of homes in South Florida have experienced damaging flooding in the last year alone. But an exact count of flood-prone homes in South Florida — and where and how often they flood — has been all but impossible to pin down.
Newly released data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency puts some hard numbers to a problem that climate change promises to make worse in the coming decades. Thousands of homes across the state have endured water damage more than once. It’s a number that is growing across the state, in part because in the vast majority of cases, little has been done to protect the properties from future floods.
Here’s the kicker: Potential buyers and renters are prohibited from knowing that flooding history under federal and state rules.
‘Devastating case’: Endangered whale calf maimed by propeller stirs outrage across US | USA Today
Whale advocacy groups reacted with concern and outrage Wednesday after federal officials announced a critically endangered right whale calf had been spotted off the South Carolina coast with injuries so severe it’s likely to die.
North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, with a population estimated at 356. Pregnant female right whales migrate from the waters off Canada and New England to the Southeastern United States during the winter to give birth. That requires them to navigate waters busy with ships, military vessels, fishing boats and pleasure craft.
The injured calf was first spotted off South Carolina with its mother, a whale nicknamed Juno, on Nov. 28. It was the first of nine calves spotted so far this season, stated the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service in the announcement.
GOP candidates point to China when asked about threat of climate change | The Hill
GOP presidential candidates former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed to emissions from China and promised to eliminate the Biden administration’s environmental policies when asked about the threat of climate change at an Iowa debate Wednesday.
Moderator Jake Tapper noted that 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded and that DeSantis has taken action to improve resilience in Florida to rising sea levels but asked what, if anything, the governor would do to address greenhouse gas emissions, the primary cause of climate change.
DeSantis responded with an attack on U.S. climate envoy John Kerry for traveling on a private jet and vowed to eliminate the Biden administration’s renewable energy subsidies, while also pointing to China’s status as the world’s No. 1 emitter. In a July 2023 House hearing, Kerry testified that his wife formerly owned a private jet that has since been sold.
If you have any news items of note that you think we should include in our next roundup, please email The Invading Sea Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here.
