Florida appoints first chief science officer to take on climate crisis

Tom Frazer plans to make water quality a priority in new role created by Republican governor Ron DeSantis

To say Dr Tom Frazer faces a daunting workload as he begins his new job as Florida's first chief science officer would be an underestimation. From the increasing risk of ever stronger Atlantic hurricanes, toxic algae blooms that have inundated the state's beaches and inland waterways, and rising sea levels that threaten to leave Florida underwater by the end of the century, the challenges appear immense.

But where many see a five-alarm climate emergency laying siege to his state, Frazer, with a measured approach honed from more than three decades' experience of working in environmental science, sees only opportunity.