Florida Sea Grant researcher earns lifetime achievement recognition
For his research developing novel ways to grow and store native plants essential to beach restoration, Mike Kane has been recognized by the Society for In Vitro Biology.
UM Graduate named first Florida Coastal Office/Florida Sea Grant Fellow
During her fellowship, Kayleigh Michaelides will work in Tallahassee and assist in developing projects dealing with water quality, coastal community resilience and habitat restoration.
Upcoming workshop: Plant selection for coastal restoration in the era of climate change
Presentations will include an overview of climate change science, approaches to sourcing plant propagules and impacts of climate change on sea oats, salt marshes and mangroves.
NOAA releases forecast for 2014 Atlantic hurricane season
On May 22, 2014, NOAA released its predictions for the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1. The prediction is for 8-13 named storms, 3-6 hurricanes, and 1-2 major hurricanes. This represents a near-normal to slightly below normal number of storms based on the average from 1981 to 2010. NOAA attributes the likely lower number…
Florida Sea Grant takes an international approach to maintaining fish stocks
Editor’s note: February 12, 2015 — The introduction of lures to Caribbean fishermen is not meant to suggest that the use of bait in the U.S. commercial and offshore sport-fisheries is not sustainable and should be replaced by lures. To the contrary, lures are being tested as a sustainable complement to the use of bait to…
Insurance Industry Leader Calls on Insurance Industry to Account for Risk from Climate Change
World-wide insurance industry leader Lloyd’s of London has issued a call for insurers to begin adding the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise into the risk calculations that insurers make when writing policies. In an article in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Lloyd’s noted that annual average losses had quadrupled from the 80s to the…
Fewer in U.S. see climate change as threat than in other countries
A May 6, 2014 article in the New York Times discusses Pew Research Center and Gallup polls showing that lower percentages in the United States see climate change as a threat than in most other countries. In fact, the article notes that only 40% of those in the United States see climate change as a…
In response to Congressional action, NFIP stops planning for rate increases to "grandfathered" properties
Due to inclusion of language in an omnibus funding bill signed by President Obama on January 17, 2014, the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently released an advisory document which indicates that FEMA has stopped any planning to implement section 207 of the Biggert-Waters Act. Section 207 of BW12 instructed the National Flood Insurance Program to…
FEMA Now Considering Sea-Level Rise in Mitigation Grants
In late December of 2013, FEMA formally announced that it will now allow state, territorial, or tribal applicants for hazard mitigation assistance to include sea-level rise in their applications. Hazard mitigation assistance grant applicants have to demonstrate, via a benefit-cost analysis, that the proposed project will save as much or more money than it costs…
Potential abandonment of a NJ neighborhood linked to sea-level rise and flood insurance
New Jersey is offering about $9.4 million to buy out 33 homeowners in a vulnerable part of New Jersey. Many of the homes for which the offer is extended were destroyed or severely damaged by Sandy. The article notes apparent unanimous support for the buyout by owners of the affected properties. This stems in part…