FLORIDA INFORMATION

Florida has 131 public airports and more than 700 private airports, airstrips, heliports and seaplane bases

Terrain

At 345 feet above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida. The highest point in peninsular Florida, Sugarloaf Mountain, is a 312ft peak in Lake County. Mainly Florida has an elevation of approx. 12ft, including many populated areas such as Miami which are located on the coast. Miami and other parts of south Florida are the most vulnerable regions in the world to rising sea levels associated with global warming.

Climate

The climate of Florida (nickname is the "Sunshine State") is tempered by the fact that no part of the state is very distant from the ocean. Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90s Fahrenheit (32–34 °C). Mean low temperatures for early to mid January range from the low 40s Fahrenheit (4–7 °C) in northern Florida to the mid-50s (≈13 °C) in southern Florida. In the summer, high temperatures in the state seldom exceed 100 °F (38 °C). During the winter months, Florida has record cold maxima in the 30s °F (−1 to 4 °C) of last century. These temperatures may happen for a few days at a time in the northern and central parts of Florida. Southern Florida, however, rarely encounters sub-freezing temperatures. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Florida was 109°F, which was set on June 29, 1931 in Monticello. The coldest temperature was −2°F, on February 13, 1899, just 25mi away, in Tallahassee. The Florida Keys, because they are completely surrounded by water, have lesser variability in temperatures. At Key West, temperatures rarely exceed 95°F in the summer or fall below 55°F in the winter, and frost has never been reported in the Keys.



Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country. A common day in Florida gets in the afternoon in most of the state areas only a short shower to return to sunshine an hour or so later. These are caused by overland collisions of moist masses of air from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. A narrow eastern part of the state including Orlando and Jacksonville receives between 2,400 and 2,800 hours of sunshine annually. The rest of the state, including Miami, receives between 2,800 and 3,200 hours annually. The most widespread snowfall in Florida history occurred on January 19, 1977, when snow fell over much of the state, with flurries as far south as Homestead. Snow flurries also fell on Miami Beach for the only time in recorded history. A hard freeze in 2003 brought "ocean-effect" snow flurries to the Atlantic coast as far south as Cape Canaveral.

Fauna

Florida is hosting many types of wildlife including:

• Marine Mammals: Bottlenose Dolphin, Short-finned Pilot Whale, North Atlantic Right Whale, West Indian Manatee
• Reptiles: American Alligator and Crocodile, Eastern Diamondback and Pygmy Rattlesnakes, Gopher Tortoise, Green and Leatherback Sea Turtles, Eastern Indigo Snake
• Mammals: Florida panther, Northern River Otter, Mink, Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, Marsh Rabbit, Raccoon, Striped Skunk, Squirrel, White-tailed deer, Key Deer, Bobcats, Gray Fox, Coyote, Wild Boar, Florida Black Bear, Nine-banded Armadillos
• Birds: Bald Eagle, Northern Caracara, Snail Kite, Osprey, White and Brown Pelicans, Sea Gulls, Whooping and Sandhill Cranes, Roseate Spoonbill, Florida Scrub Jay and others. One subspecies of Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, namely subspecies osceola, is found only in the state of Florida. The state is a wintering location for many species of eastern North American birds.
• Invertebrates: carpenter ants, termites, and American cockroach.

The only known calving area for the Northern Right Whale is off the coasts of Florida and Georgia.
Since their accidental importation from South America into North America in the 1930s, the Red imported fire ant population has increased its territorial range to include most of the Southern United States, including Florida. They are more aggressive than most native ant species and have a painful sting. A number of non-native snakes have been released in the wild. In 2010 the state created a hunting season for Burmese and Indian pythons, African rock pythons, green anacondas, and Nile monitor lizards.

Environment

Florida ranks 45th out of 50 states in total energy consumption per capita, despite the heavy reliance on commercial and residential air conditioners. This includes coal, natural gas, petroleum, and retail electricity sales. It is estimated that approximately 4% of energy in the state is generated through renewable resources. Florida's energy production is 6% of the nation's total energy output, while total production of pollutants is lower, with figures of 5.6% for nitrogen oxide, 5.1% for carbon dioxide, and 3.5% for sulfur dioxide. It is believed that significant energy resources are located off of Florida's western coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but that region has been closed to exploration since 1981. In July 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced plans to sign executive orders that would impose strict new air-pollution standards in the state, with aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. Crist's orders would have set new emissions targets for power companies, automobiles and trucks, and toughen conservation goals for state agencies and require state-owned vehicles to use alternative fuels. The Florida panther is close to extinction. A record 23 were killed in 2009 by hunters and in car accidents which leaves only about 100 individuals in the wild. The Center for Biological Diversity and others have therefore called for a special protected area for the panther to be established. Manatees are also dying at a rate higher than their reproduction.

Protected areas

Areas under control of the National Park Service include:

• Big Cypress National Preserve, near Lake Okeechobee
• Biscayne National Park, in Miami-Dade County south of Miami
• Canaveral National Seashore, between New Smyrna Beach and Titusville
• Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, in St. Augustine
• De Soto National Memorial, in Bradenton
• Dry Tortugas National Park, at Key West
• Everglades National Park in Southern Florida
• Fort Caroline National Memorial, at Jacksonville
• Fort Matanzas National Monument, in St. Augustine
• Gulf Islands National Seashore, near Gulf Breeze

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, in Jacksonville Areas under the control of the USDA United States Forest Service include:

• Apalachicola National Forest along the east bank of the Apalachicola River
• Choctawhatchee National Forest near Niceville
• Ocala National Forest in Central Florida
• Osceola National Forest in Northeast Florida

Geology

The Florida peninsula is a porous plateau of karst limestone sitting atop bedrock known as the Florida Platform. The emergent portion of the platform was created during the Eocene to Oligocene as the Gulf Trough filled with silts, clays, and sands. Flora and fauna began appearing during the Miocene. No land animals were present in Florida prior to the Miocene. The largest deposits of potash in the country are found in Florida. Extended systems of underwater caves, sinkholes and springs are found throughout the state and supply most of the water used by residents. The limestone is topped with sandy soils deposited as ancient beaches over millions of years as global sea levels rose and fell. During the last glacial period, lower sea levels and a drier climate revealed a much wider peninsula, largely savanna. The Everglades, a wide, slow-flowing river, encompasses the southern tip of the peninsula.
While there are sinkholes in much of the state, modern sinkholes have tended to be in West-Central Florida. Florida is tied for last place as having the fewest earthquakes of any US state. Because Florida is not located near any tectonic plate boundaries, earthquakes are very rare.

Regular Events:

• The annual "Strawberry festival" in Plant City (FL)
• Miami international film festival (FL)
• The annual "Azalea festival" in Palatka (FL)

Sightseeing:

• Guang Ming Temple (Orlando / FL)
• Daytona International Speedway (Daytona / FL)
• Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach / FL)
• Flagler Museum (West Palm Beach / FL)
• Jungle Island (Miami / FL)
• "History Miami" former historical museum of South Florida (Miami / FL)
• "Children's Museum" former Miami Youth Museum (Miami / FL)
• Barnacle Historic State Park (Miami / FL)

Well known Beaches:

• Miami Beach
• Daytona Beach
• West Palm Beach
• Siesta Key Beach
• Key West & Key Largo
• Port Charlotte Beach & Park
• Cayo Costa State Park Beach
• Englewood Beach & Chadwick Park
• Stump Pass Beach
• Ponce De Leon Beach (Punta Gorda)
• Gasparilla Island Beach

Other Highlights:

• Central Broward Regional Park & Stadium (Fort Lauderdale / FL)
• Fort Lauderdale Stadium (FL)
• Miami Yacht Club (FL)
• Boca Grande Light House / Museum
• Fishermen`s Village (Punta Gorda)
• Lighted Boat Parade (Punta Gorda)
• Military Heritage Museum (Punta Gorda)
• Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre (Ft Myers)
• Muscle Car City (Punta Gorda)
• Florida International Air Show with High-speed military jets at Punta Gorda Airport
• MLB Spring Training Camps 

FL Employers & Job seekers platform & info about Economy at a Glance

• In April 2014, private-sector employment in Florida grew by 33,700 jobs.
• Over the past year, the Florida private sector has added 248,800 jobs.  
• Florida private-sector employers have added 677,000 jobs (an increase of 11.2 percent) since February 2010 in sectors of professional and business services (170,500 jobs), leisure and hospitality (161,000 jobs) and trade, transportation & utilities (141,500 jobs). 

                  >>> Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs and unemployment data  Status  April 2014

• FL has one of the lowest Unemployment rate with 3,1 percent (most recent data by StateMaster.com)