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Florida in Focus: Climate Change News

A network of newsrooms across the state, including the Tampa Bay Times, have banded together to track the impacts of climate change.

  1. Nearly all staff laid off at UCF energy research institute
    • Environment
    Solar panels are shown in this 2021 file photo. UCF has laid off nearly 60 employees from the Florida Solar Energy Center.
  2. Sinking skyscrapers? As buildings got bigger in this Florida city, so did concerns
    • Environment
    An aerial view shows the Chateau Beach Condo, left, near the coastline in Sunny Isles Beach on Oct. 31. At least a handful of towers have sunk as much as two to three times more than expected, the Miami Herald found in a monthslong analysis of dozens of engineering reports covering nearly every building along the city’s multibillion-dollar skyline.
  3. Gulf of Mexico under pressure from oil industry’s new deepwater technology
    • Environment
    Rescue boats attempt to put out the blaze from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig after it exploded on April 20, 2010. The disaster became the worst marine oil spill in American history.
  5. The Gulf of Mexico’s first fish farms might be coming to Florida
    • Environment
    Fresh-caught Gulf fish like snapper, pompano and grouper sit on ice at Brooks Dockside Seafood in Inglis on May 1. While no fish farmers have proposed raising these species, some commercial fishermen are concerned that might be in the Gulf's future.
  6. How hot was this Florida state prison? The heat index hit 119, report says
    • Environment
    The Dade Correctional Institution is shown in this 2014 photo. A report included in a lawsuit claims the heat index inside the prison reached as high as 119.
  7. ‘Forever chemicals’ are new environmental threat for Florida’s Everglades
    • Environment
    Chemicals linked with cancer and other human health problems have been detected in the Everglades, shown in this file photo. It is the first time they have been measured on the Everglades reservation of the Miccosukee Tribe.
  8. Rotting pumpkins stink for the environment. Miami schools teach kids how to reduce impact
    • Environment
    First grade students from Pinecrest Elementary School put pumpkins in a compost bin after a mini lesson on how composting is better for the climate.
  9. More pythons are being seen near neighborhoods. Is suburbia their next conquest?
    • Environment
    A Burmese python is held during a safe capture demonstration in Miami in 2022. More than a dozen sightings of the invasive snakes have been reported in suburban or industrialized areas of South Florida since May 2025.
  10. 2 more Florida corals are ‘functionally extinct’ after 2023 heat wave
    • Environment
    Dead coral sits in a pile near Paradise Reef nursery during a Rescue A Reef coral restoration dive out of Diver's Paradise dive shop at Crandon Marina in Key Biscayne on Aug. 4, 2023. Two species of corals are now considered "functionally extinct" from Florida's reefs after the marine heat wave that gripped the state in 2023.
  11. Deep in the Glades, this farm grows ‘artisanal oysters.’ Can they revive an industry?
    • Environment
    Everglades Oysters co-founders Josh Wilkie, left, and Fabio Galarce hold oysters from their farm off Panther Key, near Cape Romano, in the Ten Thousand Islands on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Florida.
  12. King tides in South Florida: Getting worse and a sign of sea level rise to come
    • Environment
    Monique Bennema, 59, economic policy officer Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, wades into the water as she prepares to measure king tide during Florida International University's Sea Level Solutions Day at Grove Park on Wednesday, Oct, 8, 2025, in Miami, Fla.
  13. Florida proposes diverting millions for ‘cleaner technology’ from electric vehicles
    • Environment
    South Florida’s electric bus fleet has been plagued by problems. Miami-Dade and Broward spent $126 million to purchase 117 electric buses and build charging stations for the new clean, green fleet. Most broke down in under a year and it’s been difficult to get part. Florida, citing equipment supply problems and other issues, is proposing to divert millions from future EV projects and steer that money toward ‘clean diesel” and other technologies.
  14. Warm seas help stone crabs reach the Chesapeake. What does that mean for Florida crabs?
    • Environment
    Stone crab claws are shown in this 2024 photo in Tarpon Springs. The creatures recently have been found in Chesapeake Bay for the first time.
  15. Stronger hurricanes mean more ‘ghost boats’ haunting Florida waterways
    • Environment
    Hurricane Milton’s storm surge moved and damaged boats and cars and devastated homes not built up to code. A curious passenger looks out the window for a better view of the large sailboat that moved several yards from its original position before Hurricane Milton in Port Charlotte.
  16. Raze or save? A fight over fate of home in flood-prone Florida historic district
    • Environment
    Anthony Accetta stands outside 1800 Michigan Ave, the home he hopes to demolish and then sell to developers. He said the proposed house that would take its place would be at least four feet higher in elevation, and more flood-resilient.
  17. Texas floods expose more holes in U.S. disaster safety net | Column
    • Viewpoints
  18. Looming loss of satellite system is latest blow to US hurricane forecasting
    • Hurricane
    This image provided by the GOES-East satellite shows the tropical Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 10, 2023. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will soon stop providing data from satellites that have been helping hurricane forecasters do their jobs for decades.
  19. Rising Florida heat cutting into this exotic fruit’s already short and sweet season
    • Environment
    202506260540MCT_____PHOTO____US-NEWS-RISING-FLORIDA-HEAT-CUTTING-INTO-1-MI
  20. Everglades worth $31.5 billion to economy each year, study finds
    • Environment
    The Florida Everglades which are seen in this 2021 file photo. A new study says the Everglades are worth $31.5 billion annually to the economy.
  21. As the ocean warms, a new study finds it’s also changing color
    • Environment
    Out of the Blue
  22. Climate change is raising costs for federal hurricane insurance for farmers
    • Environment
    The Federal Crop Insurance Program, so far spared from the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts, costs the government an average of $9 billion annually. Climate change could raise its price tag by up to a third by 2080, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.
  23. Why Trump’s remake of FEMA should worry Floridians | Column
    • Opinion
    Hurricane Milton approaches the gulf coast of Florida on Oct. 9, 2024. President Trump's remake of FEMA comes as the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season nears. (NOAA via AP)
  24. Climate change is coming for Florida’s real estate. Why don’t prices reflect it?
    • Environment
    A for sale sign sticks out from a flooded street near a temporary pump at Miami's Little River Pocket Park during a king tide in October 2023. As climate change makes flooding more frequent, home values may eventually suffer.
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