Forecaster: Sarasota to see faster sea level rise, more very hot days in coming decades
Sarasota residents will have to prepare for more frequent sweltering days in the coming decades.
Currently, about 10 days a year reach 95 degrees or higher in Sarasota, according to Bob Bunting, the CEO of the Sarasota-based Climate Adaptation Center.
Bunting forecasts that in 2050, Sarasota will see 60 such days a year, on average.
“Climate warming is impacting us in our backyards,” he said at his organization’s Florida Climate Forecast Conference at the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus on Friday.
Bunting, a former lead forecaster for the National Weather Service, shared his forecasts of what Sarasota’s climate will be like in the next few decades.
A warming climate not only means that Sarasota will see more days with very high temperatures – it also means that the area will experience an accelerating rate of sea level rise and more frequent hurricanes, Bunting said.