The most recent hurricane that hit Florida, Hurricane Milton, broke the record for the fastest intensification from a tropical storm to a Category 5. July 2023 broke the record for the hottest temperature recorded in Florida, with southern parts of the state reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Sea level has risen an outstanding 8 inches since 1950, infiltrating clean drinking water and the Everglades freshwater ecosystem with salt water.

Each of these natural disasters have been exacerbated by one thing: climate change.

Recalling the basics of eighth grade level science, fossil-fuel burning has trapped greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere, causing Earth’s average temperature to steadily increase.

Given that unnaturally high temperatures disrupt typical weather patterns, global warming accelerates climate change.

Climate change exacerbates rising sea levels, droughts, flooding and other natural disasters, which consequently interferes with the balance of ecosystems.

In the views of critics though, the escalating evidence of climate change backed by various studies and various scientists has been reduced to a fictitious theory spurred and dramatized by liberals.

In fact, this scientifically proven phenomenon has become a subject of political debate, its entire existence regarded as mere opinion by some people.

Unfortunately, these people happen to be the very ones responsible for making legislative decisions for the state of Florida.

In 2024, the Florida Department of Education led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, requested that science textbook authors remove multiple climate change references in what an educational department spokesperson said was an attempt to ensure no school product includes “any form of ideology or indoctrination.”

On May 15, 2024, the very same week the Florida Keys reached a record high of 113 degrees Fahrenheit and South Florida endured exposure to Mexico’s wildfire smoke, DeSantis signed House Bill 1645 into law.

This effectively removed the phrase “climate change” eight times from existing legislation, eliminated requirements for state agencies to consider climate friendly products and removed the requirement that state-purchased vehicles be fuel efficient.

“Florida rejects the designs of the left to weaken our energy grid, pursue a radical climate agenda and promote foreign adversaries,” DeSantis said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Regardless of what benefits DeSantis expects Florida to attain by making it harder for students to find information on climate change in their school textbooks and amending legislation to diminish the severity of the climate crisis, his intentions are clear: one of the U.S. states most vulnerable to climate change is to be withdrawn from initiatives that may help mitigate its effects.

DeSantis may be under the false assumption that doing so will insulate the voices of “radical green zealots” pleading for the government to solve the crisis. However, his ignorance does and will not silence the thousands advocating for climate action.

There are currently over 1,600 action non-profit organizations throughout the state of Florida alone, in which nearly 6,000 people are involved in advocating for climate action.

All together, these organizations have assets of over $2 billion. Clearly, a significant portion of people across the state acknowledge the issue and are willing to do their part in fighting it.

The Florida government, rather than using this level of involvement to leverage the movement, immaturely responds to the matter by undermining the climate crisis.

This raises the question of how younger generations are expected to care for their future if their own government, responsible for caring for them, will not.

Yet again, those in Florida eliminating legal measures aimed to solve climate change will not be inhabiting the planet by the time the effects become salient and unbearable. It is this very privilege that sanctions their ignorance, a privilege that millions of students across the world–who will eventually assume the responsibilities of the current political leaders do not have.

Climate change will harm the only source of habitation for the human race whether or not politicians choose to acknowledge it. The only solution to resolving it is to take actions which help subdue global warming.

Unfortunately for the people in Florida, the only body that has the power to make a change to the most impactful degree are those who regulate power plants, transmission lines and energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. This body is their government.

If the Florida Department of State is concerned with their stated mission to improve “the quality of life for all Floridians,” they would address climate change with the same diligence they employ when it comes to shutting down climate-friendly measures.

This is beyond politics.

A problem as grave and consequential as climate change demands attention, especially from those who are in positions to make legislative amendments that adequately address it.

The Florida government acting like the issue is nonexistent is equivalent to smothering a fire using gasoline.

The environmental measures those in power implement now will create the Earth’s future living conditions, so let it be one where the average weather patterns do not threaten the safety of the people.

This story was originally published in the May 2025 Eagle Eye print edition.