Mariners Hospital along with the other two major hospitals in the Florida Keys have been evacuated and all the patients moved as officials continue to prepare for Hurricane Irma on Sept. 7, 2017 in Tavernier, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota | Getty Images) ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is the hottest state in the contiguous United States, and its residents suffer the most heat-related illness. Older people are most susceptible to the heat, and nearly 4.7 million Floridians — 1 in 5 residents — are older than 65. The peninsula has 8,436 miles of coastline, and three-quarters of state residents live in coastal counties, imperiled by rising sea levels, extreme rainfall and more intense hurricanes. Climate change is making Florida hotter and increasing the risk of flooding and severe storms. Increasingly, the state should expect “adverse public health outcomes, such as heat-related illness and mortality, especially among more vulnerable populations,” according to the state climatologist’s office at Florida State University. But Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has opposed many efforts to address the causes and public health effects of climate change. As a result, Florida cities, counties and nonprofits have had to assume a greater role in dealing with higher temperatures — without sufficient money and resources to do so, many argue. Perhaps more than any other state, Florida illustrates how the politicization of climate change has thwarted efforts to deal with it. Florida, unlike a growing number of other states, does not a have a statewide plan designed specifically to help residents cope with extreme heat and other effects of climate change. Dr. Cheryl Holder, co-chair of Miami-Dade County’s Climate and Heat Health Task Force , said that in the absence of state leadership, Florida cities and counties have done what they can. In 2021, for example, Miami-Dade County named […]