LOCAL EDITION — Fort Myers, Southwest Florida

Climate isn't a debate here. It's the water temperature this afternoon.

Where Lake Okeechobee meets the Gulf — and where warming water, algae and sea level land on the same coastline. We publish what the instruments say — updated continuously, sourced to the agency that recorded it.

Today's local brief

  • Loading live measurements…
Automatically generated from live public data — not written reporting. Sources listed below each section.

Today's climate stories

Three or more stories every day, curated from climate and energy newsrooms and delivered in the ClimateNews Daily Signal.

LGBTQ+ protesters defy crackdown in Turkey to march with Cop31 activistsCivil society campaigners form protective cordon around LGBTQ+ campaigners as they unfurl flags and placardsQueer and gay protesters defied a crackdown on LGBTQChoking fires, deadly heat and devastating floods: 2026 in extreme weatherPeople around the world have contended with unprecedented weather events and their fatal effects caused by the climate catastropheAfter the world’s hottest summHow California Gov.-elect Becerra could be better on climate than NewsomThis is California Wire , a weekly newsletter from Jeff St. John on the state’s clean energy transition. Subscribe to get it weekly via Substack. Welcome baIndigenous leaders at COP31 say it’s past time to turn promises into actionAs climate disasters mount, Indigenous advocates are pushing governments to follow through on commitments made at previous global climate summits.U.N. Leader Says People Power Is the Secret Weapon Against Global WarmingANTALYA, Turkey—Despite the lack of progress toward the goal of curbing global warming, outgoing U.N. Secretary General António Guterres urged climate activistsUN Leader Says People Power Is the Secret Weapon Against Global WarmingANTALYA, Turkey—Despite the lack of progress toward the goal of curbing global warming, outgoing U.N. Secretary General António Guterres urged climate activists
RSS · News sitemap · Get the Daily Signal

Right now in Fort Myers

Live readings from NOAA's Fort Myers station and state lab sampling. These are the numbers that decide whether the water is pleasant, profitable or dangerous this week.

Loading…
Sources: NOAA Tides & Currents station 8725520 · Florida DEP Algal Bloom Sampling · live spill map at EcoBoard.com · current conditions for the whole coast at EarthPortal.com

Active warnings

National Weather Service alerts currently in effect for Southwest Florida.

Loading…
Source: NOAA National Weather Service

Why we report this locally

Because the costs are local, measurable and already here — in emergency rooms, in tourism receipts and on the end of a leash.

Economic
$2.7B
Tourism losses from the 2018 red tide statewide — about $1.27B of it in Southwest Florida.
UCF Rosen College study, via SCCF
Economic
$5.3B
What a single harmful algal bloom could cost Lee County in lost recreation and quality of life.
Greene Economics, via The Invading Sea
Health
ER visits
Peer-reviewed research documents increased emergency room admissions for respiratory illness during Florida red tides.
Kirkpatrick et al., Harmful Algae (NIH)
Health
Pets
Dogs drink while swimming and ingest more grooming algae off their fur. Some cyanotoxins act within minutes. Keep pets out of blooms.
Live toxin results at EcoBoard.com

Get the local climate brief

A short email when the measurements change in a way that matters — water warm enough to drive blooms, toxins detected nearby, sea level or severe weather events. Free, and you can stop anytime.