Florida's Geography Problem

this is the state of Florida geographically speaking it's a giant Peninsula surrounded by thousands of islands located in the far southeastern United States in terms of economics Florida has the nation's fourth largest economy and it's ranked first in the nation for Aerospace tourism and Life Sciences population wise Florida is the third largest U.S state with a whopping 22.6 million residents making the Florida Mega region one of the most powerful regions in all of America as the single state of Florida has more residents than Delaware New Mexico Montana Utah Oregon Nevada and Colorado all combined and you could argue that Florida was actually built on its unique geography with warm Coastal weather 45 different terrestrial ecosystems and 4510 distinct Islands located only 200 miles from the Bahamas and Caribbean Sea region Florida is also famous for its white sandy beaches Panama City Beach is known as the spring break capital of America Daytona is world renowned for its Beachside racing and South Beach Miami has some of the dreamiest nightlife on planet Earth however with 18 Fortune 500 companies located there I would argue that Florida was built on its deep history of attracting big businesses and yet the state's biggest employer Walt Disney World is actually headquartered in the state of California despite controlling its own municipality in Florida and in recent years Florida has also started attracting whole new Industries with its promise of low state taxes limited regulation and relative affordability the Wall Street of the South is now located in West Palm Beach Miami's contentious relationship with cryptocurrency firms has grown steadily and much of Southern Florida has become a magnet for disenchanted Silicon Valley companies but whether it's Disney Publix Dart and restaurants or countless others businesses have come to Define Florida as much as Florida has defined them and it isn't just the big Brands making a major impact on Florida either its famous bill millionaire Founders like PayPal co-founder Keith rabois and Citadel founder Ken Griffin and my guess would be that they are there for a taste of Florida's corporate welfare not just its key lime pie if you're wondering what Florida's geography problems have to do with greedy multinational corporations well I'll get to that soon but for now just know that any conversation about the concerns looming over the Sunshine State start and end with its Rising overpopulation pollution and problematic geography the State of Florida is defined by its three physiographic regions the Gulf Coastal lowlands the Atlantic Coastal lowlands and the interior Highlands but excluding the Panhandle where population is sparse Florida is famously narrow with the interior Highlands and wide Coastal lowlands merging in a way that makes the whole state feel like a tropical destination of course Florida's climate isn't really tropical no with the exception of a few counties in far south Florida it's a subtropic state much like Tennessee actually while Florida has the nation's third highest population its land mass is only slightly larger than Tennessee despite it having more than three times more residents now the entire State of Florida suffers from serious weather and climate concerns and Florida's geography problems are worsened by a giant portion of its residents living south of Orlando as the already low-lying State of Florida sits at about sea level anywhere past Orlando I'm sure I don't have to tell you that having sea level elevation is a major problem for cities located near the ocean and the Miami-Dade metropolitan area in far south Florida is home to more than 6 million residents representing about 28 percent of the state's total population with Miami making up nearly 40 percent of the state's trillion dollar gross domestic product and being Florida's principal population and economic anchor which means that a significant portion of the state's economy and population are dependent on its most at-risk city and region though I should probably add that the Miami-Dade anchor has recent recently started syncing no I mean shrinking in recent years with newer economic hubs in Tampa and Orlando fast becoming Florida's epicenter for future growth and success but Miami is also literally sinking too with Scientists warning that the city and especially its lowest lying areas could fall below sea level if significant actions aren't taken soon which I'm sure isn't very surprising because if Florida is the example of America's worst geography then Miami is Florida's Florida both in terms of natural disadvantages and the man-made ones with those risks in Florida and especially Miami revolving mostly around their limited elevation and enhanced exposure to severe weather and climate change whether you're looking at flood storm fire drought or even heat risk Florida cities built on structurally weak porous Limestone are among the riskiest in all of the U.S that's why Don Griffin who handles research for the American Property Insurance Association says that Florida is constantly in Mother Nature's crosshairs as Florida is perched between the steamy Waters of the South Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea where six of the ten costliest storms in our nation's history have walloped the Sunshine State with three of them occurring in just the two years from 2004 to 2005. so Florida isn't growing because of its geography and all that it entails it's growing despite it with Florida residents being forced to live with the kind of harsh realities that someone living in say Kansas simply wouldn't for instance home and auto insurance in Florida aren't just more than double the national average they can be nearly impossible to obtain it all with the state instituting its own in-house Insurance Group back in 2002 as the list of cities where residents couldn't secure homeowners insurance had already grown Beyond imagination in fact at this point pretty much all major property insurance companies the ones capable of paying out their policies have pulled out of the state entirely it isn't just Florida's natural geographic problems or its overpopular station that's pulling shade over the Sunshine State though no if you put aside recent developments Florida has a deep history of being one of America's most business friendly states with limited enforcement few regulations low corporate taxes and no state income tax on individuals and while that kind of laissez-faire attitude towards business can be a major Boon for economic growth it also comes at the cost of important success factors like safe study housing clean air and clean drinking water and it's been ballooning the potential for real catastrophe in America's fourth biggest economy and third most populated state for decades now which is especially concerning for a state where much of the development since the early 90s has come out of draining low-lying swamp lands with experts arguing that Florida's unique biodiversity and ecology make it especially vulnerable to the kind of overproduction pollution and invasive species that we're currently seeing all over the state and the chief Industries there of travel agriculture manufacturing and shipping directly and significantly exploit each and every one of those serious vulnerabilities we saw it with the collapse of the 12-story Champlain Tower South back in 2021 we see it with the Piney Point toxic waste disaster we see it with residents getting sick from phosphate fertilizer Mining and we see it with the Florida Reef the only Coral Reef in the continental United States experiencing A multi-year outbreak of tissue loss disease Florida the nation's fifth rainiest state and a peninsula that is literally surrounded by 8 346 miles of coastline is somehow also running out of clean usable water all while 350 000 Acres of Southeastern Florida are being tested for seismic disruption by takala and the brunette oil companies because Florida is so open for business that even as the state faces America's worst level of geographic and geological challenges the state can't help but to put itself at even further risk [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Something Different Films

Views: 985,654

Keywords: Florida's Geography Problem, Something Different Films, The Problem With Florida, Is Florida Underwater?, Is Florida Too Business Friendly, Why Florida Is Failing

Id: NdHxcQvrZ3k

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Mon May 22 2023