Cloe Waterfield, Scientist Extaordinaire

One of the brightest, most engaging and most articulate on the subject of climate change, ocean acidification and all things green and sustainable, is Naples’ own, Cloe Waterfield.  Recently, Ms. Waterfield was contracted of Naples to oversee energy savings work and develop a voluntary green business program. Last year she completed an energy audit for Collier County and delivered a summary of those findings and a 76 page report to county officials.

Keep your eyes and ears open for more news related to this research and what is being proposed to address the issues brought to light.  Below you will find a Naples Daily News cached article covering the presentation of the report as well as an excerpt from the actual document explaining the “Impacts of Climate Change in Collier County”.

Ms. Waterfield is the founder of Twenty-fifty.com a scientific research and consulting company that helps organizations and individuals optimize the environment in their daily operations and long-term business goals.  It is optimistically named Twenty-Fifty because it’s been hypothesized that “Halving Carbon Dioxide Emissions By 2050 Could Stabilize Global Warming”.  The following information is taken from their website which you can visit by clicking on this link: Twenty-fifty.com.

So what will Twenty-fifty be able to do for you? Provide practical guidance on how to consider the environment in your daily operations and to…

Save money and help save the planet.

Twenty-fifty provides comprehensive sustainability strategies to help you navigate the new green economy. They develop simple, adaptable plans to help municipalities, businesses and homeowners assess their environmental footprint (including greenhouse gas emissions), reduce waste, minimize resource use and educate residents, staff and clients. They identify and maximize the environmental attributes of your operation and grow new profit centers through green marketing.

Concern for the environment is at an all-time high and set to climb as more and more consumers recognize the importance of being environmentally and socially responsible, and are willing to pay for it. With just a few simple changes you can maximize the efficiency of your home or place of work and send the profits where they should be, instead of out the window or down the drain.

Twenty-fifty’s network of environmental professionals in south Florida and the Caribbean. can offer assistance in the following areas of expertise:

• Energy efficiency
• Environmental education
• Greenhouse gas management
• Waste and water minimization
• Sustainable building design
• Native landscaping design
• Green marketing and communications
• Field biology (monitoring/mapping tropical habitats)
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Environmental Management Plans

Twenty-fifty is based here in Naples, Florida, and they have project and academic links throughout south Florida, The Bahamas and Caribbean.  There is a growing advisory board with decades of experience in environmental operations, education and sustainability issues.

Cloe Waterfield, Twenty-fifty in the News:

Here's a few excerpts from a Naples Daily News article that appeared 12/02/09:

...Florida, with its miles of coastline, is the most vulnerable state in the nation to the effects of sea level rise, one of global warming’s biggest threats, environmental consultant Cloe Waterfield, who wrote the county audit, told commissioners this week. “I think that puts Collier County, right on the tip of peninsular Florida, at the forefront of those impacts,” she said.

...With Collier’s future at stake, Waterfield said, the county should consider setting even higher targets for the community. Commissioners took no action on the recommendations in the report, which had been awaiting a hearing since July. The audit acknowledges progress county government has already made to cut its own energy use, but the effort must extend to the county’s homes and businesses, the audit says.

...More than $3 million in economic stimulus money the county received this year to promote energy efficiency and conservation will add up to only a “drop in the bucket,” Waterfield said.

Check out this article for more information: Collier’s carbon footprint a long way from 10 percent reduction goal » Naples Daily News

And here is an excerpted section of the comprehensive report that Ms. Waterfield furnished to the county outlining the “Impacts of Climate Change in Collier County” (see Pew, 2009);

A brief summary of the anticipated effects of climate change include:

•Continued global temperature rise,
•Continued rise in global sea levels (related to temperature rise as oceans warm and expand and glaciers and icecaps melt). Mid-range projections are for a rise of 2-3 feet by 2100.
•Changes in marine and terrestrial habitat zones (for plants, including agricultural species, and wildlife). Further loss of coral reefs from bleaching and more frequent harmful algal blooms like red tide will occur, all exacerbated by rising temperatures.
•Alterations in marine species lifecycles and distributions as CO2 is absorbed by the oceans leading to reduced Ph (acidification).
•More intense and sporadic rainfall (flooding in some locations, drought in others) with additional pressure on aquifer water resources (from continued saltwater intrusion as seas push inland). Water will become more expensive as it becomes harder and more energy intensive to extract and treat it.
•The potential of climate refugees, forced to flee inundated coastal areas.
•Spread of vector borne disease.

For Florida, particularly low lying tourism dependant coastal areas, the ramifications are potentially very serious. Governor Charlie Crist has described Florida as the most vulnerable state in the nation to the effect of climate change. The Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program released a draft climate change vulnerability assessment in June (Beever et al, 2009) which asserts that not only is climate change already underway in our region, but that of the study area (Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier Counties), Collier has the greatest area and percentage of total land vulnerable to sea level rise. The report identifies alteration of hydrology as the region’s most critical issue. A report from Tufts University (Stanton and Ackermann, 2007), estimated the financial loss to various sectors of the Florida economy at $92 billion by 2050.

We are pleased to welcome Cloe Waterfield as one of our distinguished contributors. If you have the opportunity to engage the services of  Twenty-fifty, please let them know that you read about them on UGottaGoGreen.com and let us know about your experience with their business.