Saturday, November 14, 2026
Professor Mike Savarese, guest speaker, with Hyla Crane, Executive Director for Marco Center for the Arts.
The third lecture on sea level rise and its impact on Marco crew a big crowd.
BLUE UNDER WATER waves and bubbles
Hyla Crane, Executive Director for Marco Center for the Arts, welcomes attendees to the last lecture in the Earth Day series.
According to climate scientists, as the planet gets warmer, sea levels rise for two reasons. First, warmer temperatures cause ice on land, like glaciers and ice sheets, to melt. The meltwater flows into the ocean, increasing sea level. Second, warm water expands and takes up more space than colder water, increasing the volume of water in the sea.
This was the third and last Earth Day lecture for the Marco Center for the Arts. The guest speaker, Mike Savarese, is a Professor of Marine Science within the Coastal Watershed Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University. He spoke to a roomful of anxious residents after one of those classic summer torrential downpours.
Attendees heard doomsday words such as net zero by 2050. What does it mean? What would our world look like at net zero by 2050? How do we get there?
According to Savarese “production of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide determines the extent of global warming and reducing these greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is key to the survival of our children and grandchildren.”
What is the sea level rise status right now in Collier County? According to Savarese, there is a tide gauge at Naples Pier installed by NOAA and has been recording sea level rises since 1960. Looking at recorded tides over time, it showed about 1/10th of an inch sea level rise since 1960 (two slices of Velveeta cheese).
Doomsday Stat: Do you want to know something really frightening? Studies have shown that if you were to melt all the ice in Greenland, sea level will go up 24 feet and this area of Florida will disappear under water. If you were to melt all the ice in Antarctica the sea level would go up 230 feet and the entire coastal plain of North America would disappear.
On the upside for Florida, Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1954 into law in 2021, which is a comprehensive legislation promoting a coordinated approach to Florida’s coastal and inland resiliency. It means protecting our inland waterways, coastlines and shores which serves as invaluable defenses against sea level rise.
On the more local level, cities and counties can join a collaborative effort to address effects of climate change such as sea level rise, hurricanes and coastal erosion.
According to Savarese, we have the Southwest Florida Regional Compact, which is an agreement between municipal and county governments across Charlotte, Collier and Lee Counties with the aim to “develop a regionally consistent approach to the impacts of climate change and to advance local and regional responses to, and preparations for, economic and social disruption projected to result from the impacts of climate change.”
The Compact consists of the following participants:
Savarese added that most of Florida has joined in groups or coalitions and 12 municipalities have signed the Memorandum of Understanding and every local government has endorsed the Alliance. The Alliance has now been in operation for a year and has brought in two grants for the region.
However, since this has happened, there have been setbacks. In the last six months, Lee and Collier County today have voted to take a leave of absence from the coalition.
Call to Artist: Marco Island Center for the Arts announces a Call to Artist exhibition: “Art Done With or About Technology.” This includes all things digital, including but not limited to digital photography, digital photo manipulation, work created using new technology Procreate, Adobe Fresco, illustrator, Photoshop, and any other traditional art that depicts technology in a traditional form such as painting with acrylic, oil, or ceramics. Intake for this Call to Artists will be August 4, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and the exhibition will last until September 5, 2022. Artists of all ages from the community are welcome to participate in this innovative exhibition.
La Petite Galerie is featuring Mara Darrow’s photographs as she captures stunning images of the natural beauty and wonder what surrounds us all. Don’t forget to come and gaze at her photographs, currently on exhibit at Marco’s Center for the Arts.
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