With the severity of damage from Hurricane Milton in Florida becoming more clear, Gov. Ron DeSantis once again dismissed the impact of climate change.
“It is hurricane season. You are going to have tropical weather,” the Republican said at a news conference Thursday in St. Lucie County, which was hit hard by deadly tornadoes.
DeSantis also seemed to equate hurricane-related conspiracy theories — which authorities say are causing real harm — with scientists pointing out that human activity drives climate change. When asked for his response to the disinformation swirling around the hurricanes, the governor joked: “Look, if I could control the weather, I would do, you know, 78 and sunny year-round.” He then added:
And this is on both sides. You kind of have some people think government can do this, and others think it’s all because of fossil fuels. The reality is, is what we see — there’s precedent for all this in history.
Climate scientists have pointed to a connection between the warming planet and the ferocity of hurricanes. Higher temperatures in ocean waters accelerate tropical storms, causing their wind speeds to surge over a shorter period of time.
Climate scientists have pointed to a connection between the warming planet and the ferocity of hurricanes.
One report from the World Weather Attribution, a leading authority in the study of how climate change affects weather events, found that Hurricane Helene, which devastated swaths of the Southeast just two weeks before Milton, had more intense wind speeds and greater rainfalls because of climate change.
“I just think people should put this in perspective,” DeSantis said at Thursday’s news conference. “They try to take different things that happen with tropical weather and act like it’s something — there’s nothing new under the sun.”
In Florida, a state that is uniquely vulnerable to natural disasters, Republican leaders have long dismissed the impact — and even discussion — of the climate crisis. DeSantis, who ran a failed campaign for president in this election, has sought to turn the climate crisis into a culture war issue. In May, he signed legislation that made climate change a lesser priority in Florida and removed most references to it from state law.