Global Warming In the News

Environmental groups link drought condition to warming of planet

By STACEY EIDSON
seidson@bradenton.com

As the Bradenton-Sarasota area continues to suffer through a drought, representatives from Greenpeace, Environment Florida and National Environment Trust called on Florida's elected officials to support proposed legislation that would combat global warming.

While dozens of sailboats drifted past Bayfront Island Park in Sarasota on Tuesday morning, Adam Rivera, a spokesman for the Tallahassee-based group Environment Florida, said global warming threatens to increase the frequency of severe storms and long-term droughts.

"Global warming is already beginning to affect life here in Sarasota," Rivera said, as he pointed towards Roberts and Sarasota bays. "Average temperatures have increased, species are on the move, and sea levels are rising."

For the past six months, Environment Florida has been working on a report titled, "When It Rains, It Pours," which examines trends in the frequency of rain across the nation from 1948 to 2006, based on information from the National Climatic Data Center and the Illinois State Water Survey.

"Heavy rainfalls are 95 percent more frequent in Sarasota-Bradenton area than they were 60 years ago," Rivera said. "At the rate we are going, what was once the storm of the decade will soon seem like just another rainy day."

But even though there has been an increase in the frequency of extreme rainstorms, Rivera said the public should not expect more water to be available. In fact, the opposite will likely be true, he said.

"An increase in the number of big downpours does not mean that more water is going to be available to us or that the drought conditions that we presently have gripping Florida are not going to be the norm," Rivera said. "Scientists expect that extreme downpours will result in longer periods of dryness, thereby increasing the risk of the kind of drought that we have on our hands right now."

Considering Manatee and Sarasota counties are about 20 inches below normal for rainfall this year, Rivera said Environment Florida should have named the report, "If It Rains, It Pours."

The U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee is expected to vote today on amendments to the "America's Climate Security Act," a global warming bill introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman, Rivera said.

Although Environment Florida says the amendments are a good starting point, Rivera said the group is urging U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Rep. Vern Buchanan and Sen. Mel Martinez to support even stronger bills called the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act and the Safe Climate Act.

The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act would require the U.S. to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, while the Safe Climate Act encourages reduced emissions through renewable energy, energy efficiency and cleaner cars.

Nelson's Washington office said the senator is the co-sponsor of global warming legislation introduced by Lieberman and strongly supports various measures aimed at combating the effects of global warming and producing more renewable power and bioenergy.

In fact, the senator just returned from meetings in oil-independent Brazil, where he helped arrange a future exchange with that country's energy experts and Florida scientists.

Sally Tibbetts, Buchanan's director of communications, said the congressman is aware of the legislation and intends to review it.

"However, right now, his focus is on the energy bill which is expected to be on the floor this week," Tibbetts said, adding the energy bill raises fuel efficiency standards and increases use of renewable energy sources. "The congressman does think that global warming is an important issue and that is why he was one of only 44 Republicans to vote in favor of establishing a new congressional panel to investigate the dangers of global warming."

Environment Florida has been impressed with Buchanan's opposition to legislation that would expand drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and the group hopes he will listen to its concerns about global warming, Rivera said.

"Rep. Buchanan is someone who the environmental community is really looking towards for leadership," he said.

Joe Smyth, a spokesman for Greenpeace in Sarasota, said the organization is teaming up with hundreds of local activists for a demonstration at 1 p.m. Saturday on Siesta Key Beach near the pavilion, to send a clear message to elected officials.

"We will be standing to form the outline of an hourglass while others walk from the top to the bottom creating an image of draining sands of an hourglass," Smyth said. "The message will be that time is running out to save the climate."

Stacey Eidson, Herald reporter, can be reached at 708-7908.

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