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Issues: Global Warming

How Global Warming Will Affect Floridians
A photo essay exploring the consequences of climate change for Florida residents, businesses and visitors.

If you've got a place on the coast . . . be worried. Global warming threatens your home.

Photo: Homeowners will be affected by global warming.

Nineteen of every 20 Floridians live within 35 miles of the coast. If you own a coastal home in Florida, expect global warming to threaten your property over the next several decades.

The primary threat to coastal homes will come from an increased likelihood of severe flooding. Over the next 50 to 100 years, global warming will cause the seas to rise by as much as two-and-a-half feet, which on some of Florida's gently sloping beaches could mean a loss of some 200 to 250 feet or more of beachfront. During storms, these higher sea levels will intensify the damage wrought by waves crashing onto Florida's shorelines, causing flooding that is more severe and reaches farther inland. What's more, rising seas will permit storms to overtake barrier islands, robbing coastal areas of natural protections against severe wind and waves. Global warming will also change weather patterns, creating more intense rainfall and aggravating flooding still more.

The loss of drinking water supplies may be another consequence of global warming for people living along Florida's coasts -- and elsewhere in the state, for that matter. Already, salt water is creeping into underground aquifers that provide 95 percent of Florida's fresh water. The city of Tampa has turned to costly desalinization for its drinking water, and other cities may need to follow suit.

Photos: Gary Braasch