Sarasota climate expert urges climate change preparation; Florida faces ‘triple threat’
A climate expert warned that Florida is facing a “triple threat from water” in a warming climate at a recent conference in Sarasota.
Those three threats are sea level rise, storm surge and extreme rainfall, said Bob Bunting, the CEO of the Sarasota-based Climate Adaptation Center. He forecasted that the sea level will rise in Sarasota by 11 to 12 more inches by 2050.
Bunting encouraged local governments to prepare their infrastructure for sea level rise.
“When we build a road, have we raised it so that we can get people off the barrier islands? When we build a performing arts center, is it going to survive the 2030’s and 2040’s?” he asked during the Climate Adaptation Center’s third-annual Florida Climate Conference last Thursday.
The event, which more than 150 people attended in person, featured talks by professors, business leaders and a former Miami congressman.