In January 2024, scientists confirmed what they had already suspected: 2023 was the hottest year in recorded human history. Every single month from June through December 2023 set a monthly temperature record. The global average temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels — the threshold identified in the Paris Agreement — for the first time in a 12-month period.
Then 2024 broke that record.
The Visible Evidence
The records weren't abstract numbers. They were the Maui wildfires. The flooding in Libya that killed thousands. The heat dome that killed hundreds across southern Europe. The Canadian wildfires that sent smoke across the entire eastern United States. The hurricanes that battered Florida.
Florida Feels It
Tampa and Florida more broadly are among the most climate-vulnerable regions in the United States. The combination of sea level rise, intensifying hurricanes, urban heat, and increased flooding is not a future threat — it's a present reality.
The data is clear. The conversation about what to do about it is urgent. We live here. We care about what our city looks like for the next generation.