Climate Change
& Greenhouse Effect
 Governor Charlie Crist has identified climate change as one of the most important issues facing the state in this century.
For more information on what the state is doing to address this
important issue, visit the Governor’s web site
Serve to Preserve on Global
Climate Change.
In response to Governor Charlie Crist’s directives to develop a climate action plan, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has prepared this preliminary
draft Greenhouse Gas Inventory
(Size 98kb,PDF) of Florida's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to help guide climate change planning efforts.
This inventory was developed using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) State Inventory Tool (SIT). The GHG emission levels shown in the inventory are gross estimates. While more refined estimates may be obtainable over time, DEP believes this preliminary inventory can be relied upon to identify the major categories of GHG emission sources and the general trend of emissions in those categories since 1990. DEP, with the help of other experts in the field, will continue to improve the inventory and post the updates.
Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that occurs when
certain gases in the atmosphere, especially water vapor, carbon dioxide
and methane, cause the Earth’s surface to heat up more than it otherwise
would, thereby maintaining a global average temperature warm enough to
support life as we know it.
Global climate change, sometimes referred to as global warming, occurs
when the amounts of carbon dioxide and other such gases in
the atmosphere increase beyond natural levels, thereby
intensifying the greenhouse effect. Increased carbon
dioxide levels can result from human activities such as the
burning of coal, oil and gas and the clearing of forests
without replanting.
The following web sites offer a
comprehensive review of climate change issues. Visit the
department's Florida Climate Change
web site for additional information.
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Related Web Sites