A Charlotte Harbor-based member of the national estuary program will host a summit later this month to bring together scientists, local officials, and residents to discuss how climate change is impacting Southwest Florida and ways to deal with the challenges.
The summit is designed to expand the region’s ability to prepare for and recover from climate change — global warming, rising seas, stronger hurricanes, heavier rain, frequent flooding, longer and stronger heat waves—so people stay safe, homes and businesses are protected, and daily life can continue.
A warmer world means hotter oceans, and when water heats up it expands, which increases sea level. Warmer water feeds hurricanes, and warmer air means they can hold more rain.
“The past year brought hurricanes Helene and Milton as well as other extreme high heat and rainfall events, impacting critical infrastructure needed for protecting human health and safety and our environment.” Jennifer Hecker, the Coastal & Heartland National Estuary Partnership’s director. The summit “provides vital new information to better protect our communities, exceptional natural resources, and quality of life.”
There will also be information on lessons learned. Hecker said that should help reduce damage and keep functional systems, such as the power grid, the drinking water system, roads, hospitals, and communications, intact.
A major goal of the summit is to provide residents with access to their political leaders, as well as representatives from utility providers, hospitals, schools, and businesses, to exchange ideas and potentially reach a consensus on what it’ll take to work better together in the future.
The summit will be held at the Sunseeker Resort in Port Charlotte on Sept. 16 and 17.
The event starts both days at 8 a.m. The cost is $30, but organizers said those who want to attend but can’t afford it should sign up and won’t be turned away.
To register, click here.
Growing Climate Solution, a grassroots coalition of environmental stalwarts in Southwest Florida, commissioned a poll in 2022. It found that a majority of residents believe climate change is real, is happening now, and future generations will feel the impacts.
The survey also found sociopolitical divides over the issue. Republicans who believe climate change is happening were far more likely to say it’s due to natural causes, and only 35% believe individual efforts can reduce the pollution causing climate change.
Democrats who believe climate change is happening are far more likely to say it’s due to manmade causes. Nearly 90% believe individual efforts can reduce the pollution causing climate change.
And many Republicans and some independents in the Southwest Florida region are less concerned about the effects of a warming planet, and less supportive of possible solutions. They say they are more worried about the economy than ecology.
On the flip side, Democrats and other independents were largely concerned about climate change and wanted to find possible solutions. A vast majority were more concerned about acting on climate change than economic growth.
It’s hoped the 2025 Southwest Florida Resiliency Summit will help everyone — Republicans, Democrats, independents — work better together when facing the future.
The National Estuary Program was established by Congress in 1987 to protect and restore the water quality and ecological integrity of estuaries of national significance run by the Environmental Protection Agency.
There are 28 estuaries in the program along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts and in Puerto Rico.
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by Volo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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