Latest news with #Ian
The Herald Scotland
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Tartan Noir is thriving but are we already starting to get weary?
First up, BBC Scotland's award-winning re-boot of Ian Rankin's Rebus novels will return for a second series. Louise Thornton, the broadcaster's head of commissioning, describes herself as being 'blown away' by the audience response to season one and is promising to ensure the new series is 'must-see television'. Beyond that, the author himself is playing coy about what the new six-parter will bring us. 'Only screenwriter Gregory Burke knows what happens next,' says Sir Ian. Aye, right. Either way, it's good news. Before we see Rebus 2.0, however, we can enjoy the return of Karen Pirie, creation of Sir Ian's fellow Fifer, Val McDermid. It has just returned to STV and sees the plucky Detective Inspector handed a cold case – the kidnapping in 1984 of oil heiress Catriona Grant and her two-year-old son, Adam, from outside a Fife chippie. Again, good news. As played by Lauren Lyle, Pirie is one of the most watchable TV detectives so hers is a welcome return. So too the Fife setting. Finally to Shetland. Filming on season 10 of the series began in April and the smart money says an autumn transmission is most likely, given the previous release dates. Ashley Jensen returns as DI Ruth Calder while among those joining the cast are two well-known Scottish actors – Clive Russell and Ellie Haddington, best known for her roles in Motherland and Guilt – and Samuel Anderson, who plays Mal in Motherland spin-off Amandaland. Read more from Barry Didcock: No Jimmy Perez, of course, Douglas Henshall having bailed after season seven. But fans of Ann Cleeves's original novels might like to know he is returning in literary form – though just not to [[Shetland]] itself. Cleeves's new novel The Killing Stones finds Jimmy living in Orkney where he becomes involved in the investigation into the death of his old friend Archie Stout, murdered on his native Westray using a Neolithic stone. It will be published on October 7. But not everything is rosy in Scotland's crime drama garden. Sticking with fictional detectives and ending on a less salutary note, John Niven's latest novel, The Fathers, features as a central character a TV writer and denizen of Glasgow's West End who made his pile creating and writing a long-running crime drama titled McCallister. It sees a hard-bitten Glasgow detective transplanted to the Highlands and functions as a sort of Taggart-meets-Local Hero hybrid. Niven's character, Dan, is pretty jaundiced about McCallister and wants to kill the series. Speaking to the author recently I asked him if Dan's feelings reflect his own in any way. Is Scottish TV crime drama moribund, boring, safe? Where, for example, are the adaptations of novels by Chris Brookmyre, Liam McIlvanney, Louise Welsh or Alan Parks? Given the number of great crime writers we have, does he think perhaps we are actually not getting the shows we deserve? 'It seems so, yeah,' he told me. 'Especially in Scotland where you get so many fabulous authors… There's so many brilliant writers in that space that you'd think the TV screen should be saturated with really brilliant, edgy noir crime stuff. But it's not the case.' He added: 'I wouldn't name names, but I work a lot in the screenwriting space and I've had two or three in recent years where a producer will option a book and hire me to write a pilot and it will go so far down the line and then it always gets spiked at the last minute. It doesn't happen. One begins to weary.' The path from page to screen leaves many edgier projects by the wayside, it seems. Money is an issue, but ultimately it's the viewers' loss. How long before we too begin to weary? Superbams He has helmed several superhero films, written two live-action Scooby Doo movies and created something called Lollipop Chainsaw, a 'hack-and-slash' video game – so it's fair to say you'll search James Gunn's filmography in vain for even a sniff of anything as avowedly political as Spike Lee, Ken Loach or Andrea Arnold might turn out. And yet through the unlikely medium of yet another Superman reboot, the American director has set the cat among the pigeons – or perhaps that should be the feral, anti-woke moggy among the doves. Interviewed recently about the new film, which stars relative unknowns David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Gunn said: 'Superman is the story of America. An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country… but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.' James Gunn (right) on the set of Superman (Image: Warner Bros) Cue howls of derision from somewhere off to the right, who saw in his comments a criticism of recent migrant round-ups by US Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 'We don't go to the movie theater [sic] to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology on to us,' said swivel-eyed MAGA loyalist Kellyanne Conway, who served in Donald Trump's chaotic first administration. Meanwhile Fox News has taken to calling the film 'Superwoke' while anchor Jesse Watters has joked that 'Superman is fighting for truth, justice and your preferred pronouns.' As an aside, we've already had a flavour of this on our side of the Pond, though in typically British fashion our superhero-as-political-emblem wears a blue duffle coat, a battered red sou'wester hat and eats marmalade sandwiches. Yup, Paddington. So can Superman fly above politics? The New York Times asked that very question, though the answer seems obvious by now. Not a chance. Instead, the paper wrote, Gunn's comments have had the effect of 'thrusting the summer popcorn movie into an Earthbound culture war.' Mind you, the film is absolutely killing it at the box office – it had hit £300 million by its second weekend – so the culture wars haven't hurt it financially. On the whole the reviews have been good too, though don't expect more of the same when Gunn-produced follow-up Supergirl hits the cinemas in 2026. Speaking about his casting of Australian actress Millie Alcock as Supergirl, he recalled a conversation between himself and fellow producer Peter Safran. 'He's like: 'Well, who would you see as Supergirl?' I said: 'You see the House Of The Dragon?' Who was that little blonde girl on that?'' Sounds like it's back to business as usual, then. Little blonde girl? The MAGA right will love it. And finally The Herald's theatre critic Neil Cooper runs his eye over the tangled history of John Buchan's fabulous adventure novel The Thirty-Nine Steps as he enjoys a new Pitlochry Festival Theatre production by director Ben Occhipinti. The 1915 novel was originally adapted for film by Hitchcock in 1935, his version was re-shot by Ralph Thomas in 1959 and Occhipinti's take on it uses Patrick Barlow's 2005 adaption, which turns it into a four-hander. With clowns. 'An irreverent hybrid,' is Neil's take. He also watched a revival of Paul Hendy's West End hit The Last Laugh at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, which pitches Tommy Cooper, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Morecambe into a dressing room together – what could possibly go wrong? Then it was to a very appropriate setting for Davie Carswell's stage version of Irvine Welsh's Porno, the 2002 sequel to Trainspotting – Leith Theatre in Edinburgh. Finally to music, where at Dunfermline's Alhambra [[Theatre]] Teddy Jamieson enjoyed a performance by the evergreen Lulu (though she was dressed in white and diamanté on this occasion). That soulful, rasping, rowdy voice with which she announced herself to the world as a young teenager with the single Shout back in 1964 remains intact,' is his verdict as she runs through a set featuring all the old favourites with sister Edwina on backing vocals.
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First Post
9 hours ago
- Business
- First Post
Are your grocery bills rising? Barcelona researchers say they have found the reason
Have your grocery bills gone up? Besides the local inflation trends, researchers now point to a more potent disruptor — climate change — that is making your plate more expensive read more Consumers around the world may not realise that their rising grocery bills have less to do with local inflation or supply chain issues and more to do with extreme weather conditions globally. A new study from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, in collaboration with the European Central Bank, points to climate change as a critical driver of food price increases across continents. The research team traced spikes in food costs sometimes by hundreds of percent to weather patterns that are becoming more frequent and intense. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Rather than isolated incidents, the researchers described these price shocks as directly linked to 16 extreme weather events between 2022 and 2024. The analysis, which appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters, emphasised that many of these events were statistically unprecedented in their regions. Max Kotz, the lead author and a postdoctoral fellow, noted that events like heatwaves, floods and droughts are now pushing agricultural systems beyond their limits. A global phenomenon with local consequences Across the globe, basic food items have surged in price following disruptive weather events. In the United States, vegetable prices soared more than 80 percent after California endured its driest three-year period ever recorded. The Bloomberg reported that nearly a million acres of farmland were left unplanted, causing crop losses of nearly $2 billion. Arizona's reduced water supply from the Colorado River compounded the crisis, while Hurricane Ian disrupted Florida's harvests. In Eastern Australia, record-breaking floods in early 2022 triggered a lettuce shortage that pushed prices up by more than 300 percent. The retail cost of iceberg lettuce skyrocketed from around A$2.80 to A$12. Some fast-food outlets even resorted to substituting cabbage in burgers to maintain menus. Similar trends were seen in Asia, where scorching heat reaching 115°F (46.1°C) led to a 40 per cent rise in Chinese vegetable prices over just three months. In South Korea, napa cabbage, vital for making kimchi — became 70 per cent more expensive. Local reports described government efforts to release national cabbage stocks to stabilise the market. Climate inflation: A persistent threat? While food prices often stabilise after temporary spikes, the researchers cautioned that climate-driven price hikes could become more routine. The authors suggested that El Nino patterns between 2023 and 2024 may have intensified certain weather extremes, but emphasised that the broader trend is one of increasing volatility. Kotz explained that price responses tend to materialise within one to two months after a climate event, especially when heat or drought significantly lowers output. While economists have pointed out that food prices often normalise as higher prices incentivise greater production, this cycle may not hold for all crops. For instance, commodities like coffee and beef are geographically limited, meaning that prices stay elevated longer and are more vulnerable to recurring disruptions. A compound effect on households and central banks These climate-linked price hikes are more than just inconvenient — they carry major implications for household budgets and monetary policy. According to the nonprofit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, British households paid an additional £361 (approximately $484) for food in 2022 and 2023 due to climate-related factors. This figure highlights how vulnerable everyday consumers are to forces far beyond their control. With central banks around the world working to tame inflation, the unpredictable nature of climate-driven food prices poses a serious challenge. Kotz and his colleagues stressed that unless systemic changes are made, these shocks will continue to impact both consumer affordability and economic stability. The wider web of climate impacts on agriculture A broader look at climate change's effects on food prices reveals an interconnected series of pressures. Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns reduce crop yields, while unpredictable growing seasons disrupt harvest timing. Water scarcity, a growing concern in regions like the American Southwest, limits irrigation and further diminishes supply. The resurgence of crop pests and plant diseases under warmer climates can force farmers to increase pesticide use, raising production costs. Meanwhile, extreme temperatures also affect livestock, reducing milk yields and increasing mortality rates further driving up the cost of meat and dairy products. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Infrastructure-related issues, like increased fuel prices or transportation disruptions due to weather events, add another layer of inflationary pressure. Even regulatory responses to climate change — such as stricter environmental rules or new tariffs — can raise operational costs that trickle down to the consumer. What can be done? The Barcelona study recommends a combination of early warning systems, agricultural adaptation strategies like improved irrigation, and robust government policies to mitigate food insecurity. However, the authors cautioned that even well-designed responses have limitations. Ultimately, the researchers suggested that the only long-term solution lies in addressing the root of the problem — greenhouse gas emissions. Without a concerted global effort to curb warming, extreme weather will continue to strain food production systems. As Stevenson pointed out, additional complications like tariffs can make it difficult for producers to balance domestic and export markets, especially for high-cost items like beef. He warned that future policy missteps could further strain an already fragile system. A new normal in the aisles For many consumers, the link between a heatwave in Asia or a drought in Arizona and the rising cost of a lettuce head may not be immediately obvious. But as the evidence mounts, researchers are urging governments and the public to recognise that climate change is not just an environmental issue — it's an economic one. Whether shopping in Barcelona, Beijing or Boston, grocery bills are increasingly influenced by forces in the sky and sea. Unless climate trends are reversed, experts say, the price of food will likely continue its upward climb. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Los Angeles Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
How climate change is raising your grocery bill
A 300% spike in Australian lettuce prices. A 50% rise for European olive oil and 80% for U.S. vegetables. Researchers from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the European Central Bank have traced back those price jumps to extreme weather they say is linked to climate change. The group analyzed 16 weather events around the world between 2022 and 2024. Many were so unusual that a given region had experienced nothing like it prior to 2020, according to the analysis, which was published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters. 'Unprecedented conditions are set to become increasingly common across the world,' the study's authors said. 'At the same time, new records for extreme conditions will continue to be set, further from those to which agricultural production and economic systems are currently adapted.' Climate change brings with it higher temperatures and extreme rains, which can lower yields and make the crops that are harvested more expensive. British households' food bill, for instance, was about $484 more in 2022 and 2023 due to climate change, according to estimates by the nonprofit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. (ECIU staffer Tom Lancaster was a co-author of the new study.) Consumers globally say they are feeling the effects of climate change on their grocery bills, making food unaffordable for some and posing a challenge for central bankers trying to tame inflation. Here are a few of the price hikes the researchers identified: In 2022, California registered its driest three-year period ever recorded, leaving nearly a million acres of farm fields unplanted and producing initial crop revenue losses of nearly $2 billion that year alone. Arizona, which grows most of the country's winter lettuce supply, also saw reductions in the amount of water the state received from the Colorado River, due to a drought-related water shortage in the river basin. These conditions in two major U.S. agricultural states, paired with Hurricane Ian hitting Florida, contributed to a more than 80% hike in the country's vegetable prices compared with the previous year. A heat wave that warmed Asia last year to temperatures as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit was one of the disruptive weather events that led to vegetable prices in China rising more than 40% between June and September. Hot and dry conditions also left South Korean cabbages nearly 70% more expensive than the year prior, according to local media reports. Napa cabbage is commonly pickled into kimchi, a staple local dish, and the government has utilized national stocks to bolster supplies. Eastern Australia faced record-breaking extreme flooding in early 2022, which was soon estimated to be Australia's costliest ever flood and its fifth most costly disaster. A resulting lettuce shortage led shoppers to complain about prices of around $7.81 for a head of iceberg lettuce. The Guardian reported that was a more than 300% price increase. Fast food chain KFC even began substituting in cabbage in its burgers. Prices tend to respond as soon as one or two months after an instance of extreme heat or drought, said Max Kotz, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. He and the other authors also looked at how unusual weather events were for each region, based on the distribution of measures such as temperature over time. They found that heat, drought and floods were occurring at an increased intensity and frequency. El Niño, a climate pattern that occurred from 2023 to 2024, likely also influenced the extreme weather observed, the authors said. These kinds of food price shocks typically turn out to be short-term in nature, because high prices incentivize more production, which brings prices back down, said Andrew Stevenson, a senior climate analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. Products such as coffee and cattle are the exception, because they require certain conditions such as a tropical climate or large swathes of land for grazing that limit where they can be grown and bred. Coffee and cattle futures, contracts that represent near-term pricing in those markets, have marched up in price since 2020 — in contrast with futures for a crop such as corn that's more easily grown. New U.S. tariffs could further squeeze farmers abroad, Stevenson said. 'It puts producers in an uncomfortable position where the price of beef is too expensive to sell at home but not expensive enough to sell with a 50% tariff,' he added. Extreme weather is only expected to continue, and the study recommends that countries consider policies that will help consumers manage rising food prices. Ultimately, though, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and containing global warming will be key to reducing food price inflation risks, the authors said. Climate forecasts can also provide early warnings, and farms can implement adaptations such as irrigation, though both approaches have serious limitations. Court writes for Bloomberg.
ITV News
a day ago
- Health
- ITV News
'I've been suffering for 10 years': Why are brain injuries still going undiagnosed in veterans?
Ian Huxley was fun and confident until he finished four tours in the Middle East. The ten years that have followed have seen him passed from "pillar to post," ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent reports To military medics, Ian Huxley's symptoms must have seemed all too familiar. After two tours of Iraq and two of Afghanistan, he had trouble sleeping, was drinking heavily and was quick to anger. He felt depressed and reported intrusive thoughts and emotions. The diagnosis was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a psychiatric condition that can occur in response to distressing or threatening experiences and affects 9% of veterans of the "War on Terror". But when Ian did not respond to normal treatments, he was discharged from the army into the care of the NHS. Still, his PTSD diagnosis stuck. Life since has been tough. Ian has tried to work but lost several jobs due to his symptoms. He has separated from his wife, been sectioned and attempted suicide. "I get panic attacks, I freeze and get hot and cold sweats. "Even doing something like going to the shops, I need to see the exit all the time... if I can't see it, I start flapping and freaking out and then the anxiety goes up and you get to the point like I'd rather not eat than do the shop," he said. "I get headaches, blurred vision, really severe headaches. I had one the other night and it wiped me out for five hours. "I just had to be in a dark room on my own. Really, really intense and painful... I'm always ill as well, from lack of sleep, always ill." "I've been suffering now for ten plus years. "I've been through the NHS, passed from pillar to post. I've been on a number of medications and nothing ever works. I still feel just as angry, just as got to the point like this feels normal to me now," he added. Over the last decade, Ian has seen 29 doctors and scores of other healthcare professionals; his medical records run to over 700 pages. But it was friends, not doctors, who suggested he might have blast-related mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), a condition where repeated exposure to blast causes cumulative damage to the brain, resulting in severe neurological problems. Explosions create a wave of 'overpressure', a spike in the surrounding air pressure above normal atmospheric levels caused by a blast wave. Pound per square inch (PSI) is the unit of measurement used to quantify the amount of overpressure in a specific area. 1 PSI would be enough to cause window glass to shatter, whilst a PSI of 20 would likely cause a concrete building to collapse. Nato allies widely assume that any overpressure above 4 PSI can damage the brain. Several weapon systems used by the British Army appear to breach that threshold, meaning the soldiers who fire them are particularly at risk. Ian was never visibly injured in combat, but he was exposed to blasts throughout his service, particularly in Afghanistan. Symptoms of blast-related TBI overlap with those of PTSD, but there are other signs too, many of which Ian displayed: severe headaches, visual disturbances, sensitivity to noise and light, short-term memory loss and a sense of personality change. "Who I am today and who I was then are two completely different people. "Back then, I was fun, outgoing, I loved sport, loved running, I was just fun, young, confident, cocky, a typical squaddie, I suppose. "It upsets me because of who I was for my older ones, they remember daddy being fun, outgoing, quirky, laughing and joking all the time, full of energy. "My younger children... see an angry man at times, they feel 'why is daddy getting upset' or 'why can't he take me to the park today, it's not like he's doing anything' and you just, the lack of motivation, you are just constantly mentally exhausted and physically exhausted and the thoughts that go through your head, the constant self-doubt of am I good enough? " Ian contacted ITV News after seeing our previous reports on blast TBI and offered to undergo a brain scan to see if his PTSD diagnosis was responsible for his symptoms or whether there was something else his doctors had missed. The damage caused by repeated blasts is widespread, but so small that it does not show up on normal head scans. However, an innovative medical software company has now developed an algorithm that compares MRI scans to a database of thousands of "normal" brains, highlighting previously undetectable areas of damage. Innovision IP CEO, Peter Schwabach, told us: "A lot of the symptoms of psychological damage like PTSD are very similar to the ones of brain injury, and what tends to happen is in the absence of images which show damage, all patients are put into the psychological basket. "Some of them may have PTSD, but many people will have an organic injury... so this could really help doctors make an accurate diagnosis." When Ian's results came back, they were stark. His scan showed clear signs of physical trauma: damage to several of the brain's network connections, consistent with injury. Parts of his cortex were visibly thinned and many neurons had lost their vital insulation - changes that signal a loss of mental function. All this in a man just 39 years old, with no recorded head injury. To neurologist Dr Steven Allder, however, the scans tell a depressing but familiar story. Ian is the latest of several veterans he has seen with these patterns of damage. He described seeing each person as like "picking up the same set of notes every time" and said "there is a real problem." "They're all veterans, they've all been deployed in the same place, and now they've got this very consistent constellation of symptoms which is sufficiently complicated that someone needs to take ownership of it. "And until we do that, the patient and the families are going to just feel like they do, which is that they just get passed from pillar to post with no explanation. "A little bit of intervention here, potentially a drug there, but it doesn't make any difference really." The scale of the issue is hard to pin down, but Dr Allder said the people he works with are worried about hundreds of people. The Ministry of Defence has provided funding for research into the diagnosis and prognosis of blast-related TBI, and a variety of cutting-edge scientific studies are underway. It says it recognises the urgent clinical need to address the complexities of diagnosis arising from the overlapping symptoms of TBI and PTSD. Campaigners say all research is welcome, but there is already sufficient scientific knowledge to justify urgent action to help veterans who are suffering now and they also call for the government and NHS to do more.
CNBC
a day ago
- Business
- CNBC
Hurricane risk in Florida is escalating. Home insurance is harder to get
Dayna and Matt Fancher lost their home in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, to Hurricane Ian in 2022. One month into this year's hurricane season, the couple is still paying their home insurance policy — now twice as costly — while fighting the firm in court over their claim. The Fanchers, who have lived in their Fort Myers Beach home for almost three decades, said their home insurance provider paid them only a third of what it would cost to rebuild their home, and that adjusters repeatedly disputed their storm damage claims. In the end, the Fanchers say, they took out construction loans to be able to move back into their home. "We have the same coverage that we had, we're paying double, and we didn't get the assistance that we needed," Matt Fancher said. The Fanchers' predicament is just one of many linked to the insurance crisis in hurricane-prone Florida. Rates are sky-high and expected to continue rising as catastrophe claims surge and Floridians face few insurance options and increased scrutiny during underwriting. Since 2021, Florida has experienced four major hurricanes: Ian, Helene, Idalia and Milton, and premiums have climbed by nearly 30% statewide. Florida residents can now expect to pay almost $10,000 a year on average in premiums, making the state the most expensive place in the U.S. to buy homeowners insurance. In Fort Myers Beach, a small town on narrow Estero Island off Fort Myers, annual premiums jumped from about $9,000 to almost $14,000 from 2019 to 2024, according to data obtained by First Street Foundation, a climate risk modeling firm. In the wake of Hurricane Ian, Floridians filed more than half a million residential catastrophe claims, according to Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation. Up against an estimated $50 billion to $65 billion in insurance losses associated with Hurricane Ian, several homegrown Florida property insurers were declared insolvent, while major national insurers like Farmers announced they would pull back or no longer offer coverage in the state due to increased hurricane risk. Some legislative reforms have helped stabilize the market for insurance in Florida, according to Mark Friedlander, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry association for insurers. He said in 2024, the state saw the lowest average statewide premium increases in the country for home insurance and that more than a dozen new insurers had entered the market there. But hurricane risk in Florida is escalating as human-caused climate change warms the atmosphere and raises sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. Hotter conditions are trapping moisture and fueling hurricane intensification, creating wetter, more powerful hurricanes that leave Florida increasingly vulnerable to storm damage. During Hurricane Helene, moisture trapped in the warming atmosphere increased extreme rainfall by 10%, bringing rainfall totals as high as 26.95 inches in parts of Florida. Jeremy Porter, a climate risk expert at First Street Foundation, says that rising insurance costs signal the deep impacts of climate change in west Florida, as communities like Fort Myers Beach grapple with recurring damage and costly recoveries. "Over the last few decades, we haven't kept up with climate risk and quantified it properly in our risk modeling. Now, we're playing catch-up and it's driving up insurance rates very rapidly, and people are feeling that in their household budgets," Porter said. With scarce options for home insurance, more and more Floridians have started buying insurance from Citizens Insurance Property Corp., Florida's not-for-profit state-backed insurer, and Porter says this rapid movement has also pushed up insurance costs. By 2055, Porter says home insurance premiums could rise by 213% in the Tampa metro area because of hurricane risk. Climate risks are also disrupting insurance markets in other parts of the country. In Sacramento, California, residents may face a 137% increase due to increased wildfire danger, for example. Porter said declining home prices in Florida could also affect home insurance rates and availability. When property values fall in places that are vulnerable to hurricanes or other extreme weather, insurers may interpret that decline as a warning sign of growing physical or market risk, leading to increased scrutiny during underwriting and potential spikes in premiums. According to Zillow data, home values in Fort Myers Beach are down about $200,000 from their pre-Ian prices, and about 86% of sales over the last year came in under list price, a general sign that sellers are having a difficult time offloading their properties. At its peak before Hurricane Ian, the average home value on Sanibel Island, a popular spot in Lee County for beach vacationers, was almost $1.3 million. Today, that value is $868,000, with 93% of all homes being sold under list price, according to Zillow. Joanne Klempner, who has lived part time in Fort Myers Beach since 2016, says that selling her home is not a financially viable option after spending so much on reconstruction post-Hurricane Ian. With little choice but to stay in Fort Myers Beach, Klempner said she worries about how climate change will affect the future of her community. "At this point, we're in for the long haul because we have to be. I think whether people want to continue to invest in Fort Myers Beach is the bigger question," Klempner said. "When you don't have a hurricane for 30 years, the risk feels worth it to live in paradise. When you have three bad hurricanes within 18 months, it becomes questionable." Jacki Liszak, the president and CEO of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, says that Fort Myers Beach is still a great place to live and visit, and that the community is investing in resilient architecture and building homes well above the flood line. "The houses have to be built strong and they have to be built high," Liszak said. "I think that will help tremendously. People were already starting to come, and I think they will continue to come. People love this lifestyle. It's a beautiful part of the world."
