The Effects of Climate Variability on Florida’s Major Water Resources

Abstract

Emerging changes in water availability in the U.S. state of Florida have been recognized as a combined result of human perturbations, natural variability, and climate change. Florida is particularly susceptible to the impacts of the sea level rise due to its extensive coastline, low elevation, and lack of topographic relief to promote drainage. Owing to the porous nature of the state’s aquifer systems, saltwater intrusion into coastal areas is an evolving threat. Additionally, anthropogenic intervention has increased the contribution of nutrients and sediments to many lakes, reservoirs, and rivers, subsequently causing eutrophication and sedimentation problems. The state is facing the challenges of ocean acidification head-on since, in many regions, groundwater aquifers are connected to coastal waters, where water circulates from land to sea through the underlying porous limestone. Additionally, as Earth’s atmosphere warms up, extreme weather events are expected to change the environmental fate of contaminants in the aquatic environment, and this, in turn, may impact the type and distribution of contaminants in source waters. This review paper highlights five major emerging themes that are of significance for sustainable long-term management of Florida’s water resources: (i) influences of changing climate on groundwater aquifers; (ii) implications of climate change on eutrophication; (iii) impacts of changing climate on the Everglades; (iv) climate-change influence on runoff and sediment loads; and (v) influence of ocean acidification on coastal water. The findings of this review indicate that, in the future, the changing global climate will likely alter numerous environmental conditions in Florida, and the resulting changes may impact the natural properties of the state’s fresh and coastal waters. The findings are expected to mobilize knowledge in support of the changing climate to assist Floridians to adapt to its effects.