Climate change will cripple Florida’s water supply, and we’re not taking it seriously.
A recently published Bloomberg article affirms that within the wider climate change risks our state is facing, the most immediate is the threat to our water supply.
The water we drink comes primarily from the Biscayne Aquifer: a 4000 mile expanse of porous limestone.
Climate change is correlated with the rise of sea levels and rainfall, which could push toxins borne out of our commercial activity into the limestone from which we get our water.
Any city whose water is undrinkable is an uninhabitable city.
In other words, the millions of residents of the South Florida metropolitan area will be in danger in the near future.
However, the Bloomberg article isn’t completely pessimistic. It leaves the door open to avoid a catastrophic future for our city and state.
But this requires political will that currently does not exist.
As long as the general public remains ignorant of the consequences of climate change within our community, polticians will continue to ignore it.
The first step to fostering political will is to formulate a plan of action and be boisterous about it.
FIU can contribute much to this end.
As one of the state’s centers of learning, lawmakers and the public are more likely to take what we say and do more seriously.
And we wouldn’t be the first school to do so.
In 2009, Cornell University introduced a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
The plan was updated in 2013, and is considered a “living document” to the extent that new information regarding climate change is incorporated into it in order to keep it relevant.
If Cornell could do it, so can we. If they did it, so must we.
Our situation is more dire than that of any other U.S. state because of our geography.
Doing so may contribute to local governments declaring a state of emergency in view of curbing any and all things that harm our environment, and supporting practices that would repair it.
More than a dozen city councils have already taken this important step, according to the International Climate Emergency Forum.
Many of these city councils are in Californian cities, since California is also at risk of climate catastrophe.
The same has to be done in Florida, and FIU should take the lead.
Regardless of political inclinations, the combined intelligence, resources and seriousness of our faculty, staff and student body can become the defining factor in saving our water supply.
Photo retrieved by FIU Flickr
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