Florida Officials and Scientists Urge Presidential Candidates to Address Sea-Level Rise

By ClimateWire , Evan Lehmann and Christa Marshall. October 15, 2012

More than 120 Florida officials and scientists sent a letter to the campaigns of President Obama and Mitt Romney last week, urging the candidates to address sea-level rise in their final debate and during tours of the state.

The action comes at a time when four counties in southeast Florida are weighing passage of a regional climate plan, completed this month, that sets broad goals on how to alter Florida infrastructure for rising seas and warming temperatures. Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, is set to consider the plan as early as this month, as well as incorporate some of its recommendations by early January in the county’s comprehensive plan, which governs long-term land use.

In the letter, which was delivered to both the state and national campaign headquarters of the Romney and Obama campaigns, the officials and scientists note that tide gauges in Florida documented an 8-inch rise in sea level in the 20th century.  Read more

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