Earlier in August, ten scientists from various Florida universities, including Florida State University, delivered a letter to Governor Rick Scott asking for a meeting so that they could discuss the science of climate change. The 30-minute meeting took place on August 19th, where the governor stressed that he was looking for solutions, not just rhetoric about the problem.  

In a response to that call for solutions, 42 Florida scientists from various universities, including ten from Florida State University, wrote another letter to Governor Scott and policy makers proposing solutions and a change summit. Florida State Climatologist David Zierden is one of the scientists whom signed the letter and the Florida Climate Center is poised to provide scientifically sound climate and climate change information in support of these solutions.     

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2014/09/18/university-scientists-call-climate-change-summit/15824083/

On September 15th, State Climatologist David Zierden gave an invited talk to Florida State's EOAS Department on Climate Change in Florida. 

In last year's Fifth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded the warming of the global climate system was irrefutable, and that it is now extremely likely (95% confidence) that human activity and the release of greenhouse gasses is responsible most of the observed warming in global temperatures. The U.S. National Climate Assessment released earlier this year states that climate change is already affecting the American people in far-reaching ways and that evidence of climate change appears in every region and impacts are visible in every state. 

State Climatologist David Zierden presented some basic concepts in the science of climate change, then focused on historical variations seen in the State of Florida and the Southeast U.S. Variations in temperature and precipitation were tied to a variety of forcing, including inter-annual and decadal variability, land use changes, and greenhouse gas concentrations. Other aspects of climate change that impact the state were also examined, including hurricanes, extreme events, and sea level rise. 

The program also showed a few examples of the successful application of climate science and prediction in the sectors of agriculture and water resource management. 

The Florida Climate Center has become active in two new climate and agriculture blogs and will be contributing occasional articles. 

The "Climate and Agriculture in the Southeast" blog is provided by the UGA Crop and Soil Sciences Department as a service to Extension agents and agricultural producers across the Southeast US. Extension Climatologist Pam Knox administers the site and the Florida Climate Center frequently adds content about the Tri-State area. Come here to find out information about the impacts of weather and climate on agriculture across Georgia and beyond. 

http://blog.extension.uga.edu/climate/ 

The other blog is called SIFT (Southeast Innovative Farming Team) and was formed by the Tri-State Climate Working Group for Row Crop Farmers. SIFT is an online platform to strengthen information exchange and learning among farmers, extension professionals and researchers in the SE USA. This website is a dynamic space to support continuous interactions among participants who are part of existing agricultural networks, such as the Tri-state row crop climate learning community and the FL soil health and cover crop network. 

http://www.siftag.org 

State Climatologist David Zierden has put an update on the possible El Nino on the SIFT website, talking about how El Nino is still "sitting on the fence" and how it is already late in the year for an event to develop. 

http://www.siftag.org/el-nino-already-late-to-the-party/