Terrestrial and Ocean Climate of the 20th Century (original) (raw)

2017, Florida’s Climate: Changes, Variations, & Impacts

The Florida peninsula, with its close proximity to the equator surrounded by robust surface and deep water ocean currents, has a unique climate. Generally, its climate is mild with variations on numerous time scales, punctuated by periodic extreme weather events. In this chapter, we review the mechanisms by which some well-known natural variations impact the regional climate and modulate the occurrence of extreme weather over Florida and its neighboring oceans. In addition, we explore the role of land cover and land use changes on the regional climate over the same area. It is made apparent from the review that remote variations of climate have an equally important impact on the regional climate of Florida as the local changes to land cover and land use. Key Messages • Florida is a unique region to the east of the Rocky Mountains with a very distinct monsoonal type of wet season in the summer that distinguishes it from the rest of the seasons. • Florida's climate is as much affected by remote climate variations as local variability over land and its neighboring water bodies. Florida's climate is affected by more global scale natural variations like ENSO, AMO, PDO. Similarly, there is a discernible impact of local land cover and land use change on surface temperatures in Florida. • There are important interactions of the observed climate across time and spatial scales to consider. For example, the sea breeze over the Florida Panhandle is shown to be affected by the subtle variations of the Bermuda High. Similarly, ENSO forcing on Florida's winter climate is affected by decadal variations such as the PDO and the AMO.

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact