The National Academies of Sciences is again calling for Everglades planners to do a better job of incorporating climate change into the massive $23 billion restoration plan.
"The committee is recommending that the effects of climate change take a more front and center role, including the effect of sea level rise," said Jim Saiers, a hydrology professor at Yale University.
He chairs the Academies’ Everglades review committee, which is required by Congress to provide progress reports every two years.
"We need to evaluate the vulnerability of infrastructure in light of the challenges associated with changes not only on sea level but also changes in rainfall and temperature."
Congress approved the restoration plan in 2000. And since 2016, the committee has repeatedly called for planners to do a midcourse correction because changes in rainfall, flooding and temperatures could dramatically influence how projects work.
The committee also complained that it’s hard to find information about changes in the swamp to determine progress.
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