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Disaster Impact on Fort Myers

The summary that I have chosen is “Economy”. Under this summary, Reidmiller et al.
(2018) argue that climate change is going to lead to losses not only to American infrastructure
but also to properties. It is also going to lead to a reduction in economic growth rate as rising
global temperatures and rising sea levels will, in addition to damaging critical infrastructure, also
lower labor productivity.
All these predictions apply to my community in Fort Myers, Florida. The city is located
in a low-lying area that is prone to hurricanes and floods. With rising global temperatures, Fort
Myers is also at risk of the effects of rising sea levels. All these factors are going to have a
negative impact on the economy of the city.
Fort Myers is one of the most attractive tourist sites in Florida. Tourism plays a major
role in the city’s economy. As Reidmiller et al. (2018) contend, increasingly frequency of
extreme events, floods, and sea level rises are going to negatively impact the tourism sector. As a
city that is dependent on tourism, these events are likely to damage the city’s economy.
Apart from damaging tourism, these adverse weather events are also likely to
significantly affect the cost of doing business in the city, primarily through increasing flood
insurance premiums. Rising sea levels coupled with increasing frequency of floods has
significantly increased flood insurance premiums thus resulting in, among other effects,
increasing cost of real estate as the likelihood of buildings getting destroyed has increased. High
cost of real estate and likelihood of businesses getting disrupted have led to worries that Fort
Myers is going to be unattractive to investors thus slowing down its economy.

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Fort Myers, like many other parts of Florida, risks having its economy damaged by the
effects of climate change. To save the city, it is important that global, national, and regional
measures be implemented to keep the city from experiencing adverse effects of climate change.

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References

Reidmiller, D. R., Avery, C. W., Easterling, D. R., Kunkel, K. E., Lewis, K. L. M., Maycock, T.
K., & Stewart, B. C. (Eds.). (2018). Fourth national climate assessment: Impacts, risks,
and adaptation in the United States (Vol. II). Retrieved on 21 st May, 2020
from https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/