-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email Marine scientist Sharon Gray lives on a catamaran off the Florida west coast. Even though her state's governor, Ron DeSantis, recently signed a controversial law that effectively wipes references to climate change out of the state's statutes, Gray deeply worries about global heating. As the cyclical La Niña weather pattern in the Pacific combines with rising sea surface temperatures (SST), Gray predicts a "devastating" hurricane will occur in summer 2024.
While La Niña is unavoidable, the planet's rising temperatures are thanks to human burning fossil fuels. From Gray's point-of-view, this makes it "tragic" that climate change is now a politically-charged issue . "My advice to voters is to make climate change the top priority and research [their] candidates’ positions before going to the polls.
" "At its core, it’s basic physics," Gray said. Her employer the Rising Seas Institute — an organization that provides scientific education and advocacy to prepare for rising sea levels — tries to stay politically neutral precisely because climate change impacts most people equally. The organization's president and co-founder, oceanographer, John Englander, says that “ice melts at 32 degrees whether you’re a Republican or Democrat.
" Gray elaborates by pointing out that when climate change raises sea levels, the impact will not be limited to people living on the coasts. Related Are we stressing the wrong metrics for climate change? .
