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Responses to climate change are increasing at state and local levels filling in the vacuum caused by the lack of leadership at the federal level.

California and Florida are coastal states with a huge amount of potential vulnerability to sea level rise. At a climate summit in Florida, the Governor of that state signed an agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, following California's lead in this issue.

MIAMI: Reuters: July 13, 2007

The Fort Meyers News-Press (April 13, 2007) reports on the consequences that rising sea levels hold for the mostly low and flat countryside of South Florida:

"Sea-level rise is simple cause-and-effect: As the Earth gets warmer, glacial ice melts. That water goes into the sea, and the sea rises. Levels fluctuate naturally, but many scientists say the rate of sea-level rise has been accelerated by human activity, specifically pouring excessive carbon dioxide into the air.

Some scientists predict a 2-foot rise by the end of the century.