Apr 4 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Kevin Begos Tampa Tribune, Fla.

Experts say it was a "momentous" day -- the first time the four most powerful leaders in the state came together solely to discuss global warming.

"This issue of climate change is vastly significant to us," said Gov. Charlie Crist, who on Tuesday took part in a three-hour special meeting on the subject along with Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson and Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Under former Gov. Jeb Bush, global warming was rarely a topic of discussion and never a priority.

"Florida has turned the corner. We're finally willing to talk about climate change," said Stephen Mulkey, a professor in the University of Florida's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Mulkey, who was skeptical about climate change 20 years ago, said the day felt "momentous."

Sink said the first goal of the meeting was education but added that quick action is possible.

"What we're hoping for today is we get the conversation going and we raise the level of awareness," she said, noting that Bronson already has been very active in promoting ethanol production from agriculture.

Asked if she thinks serious action will have to wait until next year, she disagreed.

"I really don't," she said. "I've got a list of a few things just out of today. I think we're not going to wait."

There was plenty of grim news delivered by most of the seven experts who spoke to the Cabinet, though on many of the issues the scientists stressed that serious international action could slow the worst impacts of climate change.

Mulkey and other scientists outlined the growing body of data on carbon dioxide emissions, sea level rise, and weather patterns, all of which point to changes not seen in the Earth's climate for thousands of years.

There wasn't much of a bright side in the presentation on property insurance. Tim Wagner, Nebraska Insurance Commissioner and Director of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, predicted that the current crisis of losses, rate hikes and dropped policies "are but a harbinger of things to come."

Canary In Coal Mine

"The insurance industry is our canary in the coal mine," he said, adding, "There are no short term fixes."

Wagner expected many questions on that issue, but Sink suggested coming back to focus solely on insurance at another session.

Crist asked for details about the problem of coral bleaching. Reefs around the world, including some in the Florida Keys, are showing signs of damage, in part because of rising acidity in oceans connected to global warming.

"We can expect the loss of the vast majority of our coral reefs worldwide" by 2100, Mulkey told the governor.

There were several questions about near-term possibilities.

"Tell us about timing," Sink said, asking about projections for the next 10 to 40 years.

Stephen Leatherman, director of the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University, said that recent data indicate sea levels are rising just less than 1/8 inch a year.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but levels in Texas and Louisiana are rising at a far higher rate. Leatherman said one of the most worrisome findings is that the rate of increase seems to have been speeding up in recent years.

Beach Erosion Worse

Beach erosion is getting worse around the nation, he said, and renourishment projects that have rebuilt beaches in the past face a new problem.

"We're running out of sand in South Florida," Leatherman said.

Rising sea levels also threaten the Everglades. "The river of grass is being displaced," he said. Asked what the future holds, he replied, "I'm not sure anybody knows."

Throughout the presentations, McCollum repeated questions raised by global warming skeptics. But the scientists said the overwhelming majority of research points to humans having a significant impact on the situation, mostly by injecting billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Bronson said research has shown that dramatic climate shifts took place in the past.

"The Sahara desert was once a forest," Bronson said, adding that significant change "can happen here."

The historical data are sometimes hard to visualize. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, sea levels were almost 400 feet lower 18,000 years ago, and large parts of the Gulf of Mexico were dry.

There was some good news. Kenneth Locklin of the Clean Energy Group said he thinks green energy such as solar, hydroelectric and ethanol will be among the best investment opportunities of the 21st century.

Bronson agreed. "It'll be a major addition to the economy of the state," he said.

Reporter Kevin Begos can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or kbegos@tampatrib.com.