The U.S. state of Florida is a tourist mecca and is at the same time at the center of the global climate emergency. To highlight the growing emergency, the Florida nonprofit The CLEO Institute staged a dramatic gift shop in Miami Beach, and then flooded it with 5,600 gallons of water. The shoppers were not warned in advance.

The video (below) demonstrates the effects of rising sea levels and chronic flooding in day-to-day lives. The reality is that the climate crisis is already here, and Florida is experiencing the effects of stronger hurricanes, extreme heat, and chronic flooding & rising seas due to manmade warming pollution. The Sunshine State must stop depending on dirty, polluting energy sources that are rising temperatures and disrupting our climate. It is affecting Floridians’ lives in many ways, especially the marginalized and underserved communities feeling the disproportionate brunt of the crisis. It is driving higher costs of real estate, property insurance, energy, and food, along with an imminent threat to our drinking water source due to seawater intrusion, as well as loss of our precious biodiversity like our coral reef systems and the Florida Manatee.

If we fail to act now, Florida will no longer be “The Sunshine State” but a state in an emergency. We ask you to help us tackle the climate emergency by signing the petition stating your wish and stance to put Florida on a clean, renewable energy pathway and a rapid transition to net-zero emissions by 2040.”

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