Study: Global Warming Will Change South Florida's Climate

POSTED: 6:06 pm EDT March 26, 2007

UPDATED: 11:28 am EDT March 28, 2007

NBC6.net 

MIAMI -- Can you imagine South Florida without its famed subtropical climate? A scientific study released Monday says it could disappear within a century.

Global warming is about shifting regional climates and the study says South Florida's could be on the way out.

The region's sunny weather and warm oceans could -- within a century -- morph into some kind of climate not currently seen anywhere in the world, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Steve Jackson, a University of Wyoming biology professor, is one of the authors of the study, "Projected Distributions of Novel and Disappearing Climates by 2100 AD."

"South Florida is predicted, worst-case scenario, to get a lot warmer in the summer, a little warmer in the winter, and a bit drier in the summer," Jackson said.

It's not just about the ice caps melting. Global warming means that regional climates will start shifting.

Jackson said many of those shifts will be unpleasant.

Jackson predicts more diseases from insects, acidic oceans that threaten seafood, dying coral reefs, salt-tainted drinking water, extreme weather events, more polluted coastlines and more expensive food.

Should the Gulf Stream shift, as some worry, Florida's subtropical climate would change.

"Certainly, those are very significant changes from an ecological standpoint. Those are changes of sufficient magnitude to result in a wholesale conversion of the landscape of Florida," Jackson said.

Climate experts generally agree that much can be done to avert disaster, both politically and individually. NBC 6's Jeff Burnside reported that dozens of South Florida cities have signed on to a call for action.

If you would like to see the list of 50 simple things that everyone can do in order to fight against and reduce the Global Warming phenomenon, visit Global Warming Facts.info.