Photo courtesy of CAC

The second Florida Climate Forecast will take place on November 19, 2021 in the Selby Auditorium at the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. Hosted by Sarasota-based nonprofit, Climate Adaption Center (CAC), this in-person event will focus on Florida’s west coast and explore what our climate will prospectively look like in the years 2030, 2040 and 2050. The conference will also present first-ever forecasts of its kind and will examine how public, private and academic sectors can prepare for the future. 

Featuring CAC scientists and experts, attendees can expect speakers to discuss climate forecasts for the next three decades, how they were developed, as well as conduct a deeper dive into issues of great importance to the west coast of Florida. To make them more understandable and useful to the public, the CAC shares that forecasts will be presented in a familiar form akin to weather reports we hear every day using probabilities instead of broad ranges. These forecasts may be considered as not only the first operational climate ones for our region, they may be the first regional-specific climate forecasts ever, they say. Furthermore, they are intended to be a prototype for future climate forecasts and be a guide and inspiration for other regional forecasts as the CAC expands its geographical footprint. 

Area-specific issues of conversation include Hurricanes: how often and how dangerous; Sea Level Rise: how much and how quickly; Red Tide: will it become a new normal; Seasonal Temperatures: day and night temperature trends; Unlikely but high-impact events and the risks of extreme events increasing; and Economics: financial risk and opportunity in a changing climate. “We humans face two monumental shocks right now in Sarasota," says Chairman of Cumberland Advisors David Kotok. "The first is a pandemic; we get one about once or twice a century. The second is massive climate change; history shows how big a shock climate change can be. We use science to confront the pandemic and we can use science to mitigate climate change. CAC can help us do it and inform us how to do it."

Speakers for the day include Rick Newman, Senior Columnist, Yahoo Finance; Bob Bunting, CEO CAC; Dr. Matt Burgess, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado; Chris Castro, Director of Sustainability and Resilience, City of Orlando; David Kotok, Cumberland Advisors and Dr. Stuart Waterman, CAC.  The keynote address, Clean Electrification, Getting to Net-Zero, and Pitfalls: Why we are not Trading One Problem for Another, will be delivered by Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Senior Resident Fellow for Climate and Energy Program, Third Way; former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce; and former Chief Economist, Ford Motor Company.

"Unless we deal with climate warming on a local level where we connect emotionally to the problem, we will lose the battle on climate warming," says Bob Bunting, CEO of the CAC. "The next 10 to 30 years are very high-risk periods. If we don’t get it right by then many of the climate disruptions will be irreversible. We have time to act but time is running out to protect our Florida way of life."

Bunting also shares the CAC recently launched a membership campaign, which offers five levels of membership involvement – Category 1 through 5 – corresponding to hurricane intensity. Each level includes tickets to the upcoming conference.

Tickets for the November 19, 2021 Climate Conference are now available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. They are $65 each and include admission to all the sessions, a continental breakfast, lunch and refreshments throughout the day. Register for the event here. 

For more information on the 2021 Florida Climate Conference or the Climate Adaption Center, visit climateadaptioncenter.org.

Photo courtesy of CAC