Floridians feel the impacts of climate change

Florida is a state that often feels tangible impacts of climate change, with strong storms and hurricanes making landfall in the state every hurricane season. However, this year is the first time in a decade that the Sunshine State was spared from experiencing a single hurricane. Jessica Meszaros, a climate change reporter at WUSF, joins Kimberly to explain how Floridians are rebuilding a year after hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton hit the state. Plus, we’ll play a round of Half Full/Half Empty! Here’s what we talked about on the show today: “ Florida and the U.S. were spared of hurricanes in 2025, but storms are still rapidly intensifying ” from WUSF “ Hurricane Helene Response ” from US Army Corps of Engineers “ Assessment of Agricultural Losses Resulting from Hurricane Milton ” from University of Florida IFAS “ Disaster and insurance costs are rising. The middle class is struggling to hang on ” from NPR “ Sorting trash can be dirty and dangerous. Sounds like a job for AI ” from Marketplace “ Disney comes to Sora: What you can and can't do with the characters ” from Axios “ How fruitcake became a Christmas classic (even if it’s unpopular) ” from MSN “ City life is reshaping raccoons – and may be nudging them toward domestication ” from The Guardian