Abstract: This article briefly describes the origins of the 2011 Adaptation Action Areas (AAA legislation.5We identify every local government that has amended its comprehensive plan to include AAA language and characterize it as either aspirational or operational - depending on whether spatially explicit boundaries have been drawn. We also seek to determine the dominant 'theme' behind the AAA language, based on its focus on the built environment, natural resources and social equity, and whether the AAA is a regulatory instrument, or is focused on implementing projects. We conclude that despite nearly 10 years of existence, the promise of AAA's as a policy planning tool has yet to be fully realized. We further conclude that given its implicit goal of priority setting, there is insufficient attention paid to social equity as a basis for creating and implementing AAA's. We caution that this analysis is based on readily available public information, and AAA planning is occurring that has yet to reach fruition. In addition, because the statute is likely not preemptive,7spatially explicit sub-jurisdictional adaptation planning may be occurring outside of the AAA framework.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the vulnerability of Florida’s coastal destinations to climate change and the costs of the adaptation measures required to cope with the impacts of climate change in a range of current and future scenarios.

Abstract: Beside the physical impacts of climate change, society's perceptions of climate change and its reactions at different stages of decision-making levels have become critical issues. This study presents the perspective of tourists who have previously visited Florida, in a hypothetical scenario of changed climatic conditions. It is proposed that existing social representations about climate change, and therefore individuals' attitudes, views, and beliefs about this phenomenon, need to be taken into account when examining tourists' stated responses to climate change and subsequent potential shifts in tourism demand. The existence of a relationship between tourists' visitation intentions toward a destination impacted by climate change and the social representations they hold with respect to climate change itself offers an alternative way to look at tourists' stated responses. This study concludes that predicting shifts in tourism demand based on tourist visitation intentions requires caution when dealing with climate change.

Abstract: Karenia brevis is a marine dinoflagellate commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico and important both ecologically and economically due to its production of the neurotoxin brevetoxin, which can cause respiratory illness in humans and widespread death of marine animals. K. brevis strains have previously shown to be sensitive to changes in CO2, both in terms of growth as well as toxin production. Our study aimed to understand this sensitivity by measuring underlying mechanisms, such as photosynthesis, carbon acquisition, and photophysiology. K. brevis (CCFWC-126) did not show a significant response in growth, cellular composition of carbon and nitrogen, nor in photosynthetic rates between pCO2 concentrations of 150, 400, or 780 µatm. However, a strong response in its acquisition of inorganic carbon was found. Half saturation values for CO2 increased from 1.5 to 3.3 µM, inorganic carbon preference switched from HCO- to CO2 (14-56% CO2 usage), and external carbonic anhydrase activity was downregulated by 23% when comparing low and high pCO2. We conclude that K. brevis must employ an efficient and regulated CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM) to maintain constant carbon fixation and growth across pCO2 levels. No statistically significant correlation between CO2 and brevetoxin content was found, yet a positive trend with enhanced pCO2 was detected. This study is the first explaining how this socioeconomically important species is able to efficiently supply inorganic carbon for photosynthesis, which can potentially prolong bloom situations. This study also highlights that elevated CO2 concentrations, as projected for a future ocean, can affect underlying physiological processes of K. brevis, some of which could lead to increases in cellular brevetoxin production and therefore increased impacts on coastal ecosystems and economies.

Abstract: The climate of the Pliocene and early Pleistocene was in a transient mode from generally warmer climates of the early Neogene to the maximum glaciations of the late Quaternary. Increasingly severe coolings occurred episodically in the high latitudes, whereas the low latitudes remained warm. For the last 5 million years (Ma), rather constant sea surface temperatures have been recorded in the Western Atlantic warm pool; however, direct climate data on temperature and humidity from shallow near-shore settings are lacking so far. In this study we present a synthesis of 26 new and 46 (incl. 24 recent) published sclerochronogical stable isotope records (18O/16O, 13C/12C) with a sub-annual resolution from reef corals (z-corals) and mollusks. The fossils were sampled from shallow-water carbonate deposits of the Florida carbonate platform and belong to 12 interglacial time-slices spanning collectively the period from the Early Pliocene to the recent (4.2 to 0 Ma). Although platform carbonates are believed to undergo rapid diagenetic stabilization due to the dissolution of metastable aragonite shells, we show that there is still a wealth of material to be recovered for large-scale systematic geochemical studies. We rule out significant diagenetic modifications of the stable isotope data because measured 18O/16O ratios from z-corals and mollusks converted into temperature give consistent results. Accordingly, annual mean temperatures have risen during the last 4.2 Ma from ~ 23 °C to 26 °C in open waters, given the modern seawater value of 18O/16O is valid for Neogene. However, the global water value has changed due to long-term increases in ice volume even during interglacials, equivalent with a 2.3 °C temperature rise. A net 5.3 °C temperature increase over the last 4.2 Ma is inconsistent with the deep-sea record, however, and suggestive of an overall increase of humidity effects in measured 18O/16O instead. Particularly cool temperatures have been registered at 1.9 and 2.5 Ma, but combined 18O/16O and 13C/12C data identify these as artifacts from intensified evaporation which fits the overall restricted marine aspect of the fossil fauna in these time-slices. Seasonal temperature contrasts seem to have been high within restricted settings (~ 11 °C) and small in mixed open marine units (7–8 °C). Although this finding fits the modern situation with coastal environments undergoing 14 °C seasonal change and the reef tract 7–9 °C only, circumstantial evidence suggests reconstructions to be biased by sub-annual changes in the local seawater value for 18O/16O. Since 18O/16O seasonality has increased over the last 4.2 Ma, we suggest the humidity of modern Florida to have evolved from dryer precursor climates of past interglacials, whereas temperatures in essence remained the same. This trend possibly represents the expression of the growing relevance of the Bermudas High pressure cell. Glacial climates of Florida cannot be reconstructed using our methodology as the Florida platform was emergent during sea level lowstands.

Abstract: The extraction of climatic signals from time series of biogeochemical data is further complicated in estuarine regions because of the dynamic interaction of land, ocean, and atmosphere. We explored the behavior of potential global and regional climatic stressors to isolate specific shifts or trends, which could have a forcing role on the behavior of biogeochemical descriptors of water quality and phytoplankton biomass from Florida Bay, as an example of a sub-tropical estuary. We performed statistical analysis and subdivided the bay into six zones having unique biogeochemical characteristics. Significant shifts in the drivers were identified in all the chlorophyll a time series. Chlorophyll a concentrations closely follow global forcing and display a generalized declining trend on which seasonal oscillations are superimposed, and it is only interrupted by events of sudden increase triggered by storms which are followed by a relatively rapid return to pre-event conditions trailing again the long-term trend.

Abstract: Accelerated sea level rise was observed along the U.S. eastern seaboard south of Cape Hatteras during 2010-2015 with rates 5 times larger than the global average for the same time period. Simultaneously, sea levels decreased rapidly north of Cape Hatteras. In this study, we show that accelerated sea level rise recorded between Key West and Cape Hatteras was predominantly caused by a similar to 1 degrees C (0.2 degrees C/year) warming of the Florida Current during 2010-2015 that was linked to large-scale changes in the Atlantic Warm Pool. We also show that sea level decline north of Cape Hatteras was caused by an increase in atmospheric pressure combined with shifting wind patterns, with a small contribution from cooling of the water column over the continental shelf. Results presented here emphasize that planning and adaptation efforts may benefit from a more thorough assessment of sea level changes induced by regional processes. Plain Language Summary During 2010-2015, sea level rose rapidly along the U.S. East Coast between Key West and Cape Hatteras, causing extensive flooding to large urban areas such as Miami. Simultaneously, sea level was observed to decline north of Cape Hatteras at an accelerated rate. Here we investigate what caused the rapid sea level changes recorded during 2010-2015 at the U.S. East Coast. In this study, we show that sea level rise recorded between Key West and Cape Hatteras was mostly caused by the warming of waters carried by the Florida Current during 2010-2015, which can raise coastal sea level through thermal expansion of the water column. We also show that sea level decline north of Cape Hatteras was mostly caused by changes in atmospheric conditions, such as by an increase in atmospheric pressure, which affect sea level due to variations in the overall weight of the atmosphere over a certain location, and by changing wind conditions that can pile up, or push ocean water away from the coast.