The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" ![](\\" Al Gore stated on June 4, 2017 in an interview on Fox News Sunday: \"70 percent of Florida is in drought today.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-true/4ac7c61540eff5211f6a04d98a6bc93a.jpg.\\") ![\\"mostly- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Environment * Climate Change * Florida * Al Gore ![\\"Amy](\\" By Amy Sherman June 5, 2017 # Al Gore says \'70 percent of Florida is in drought today\' Former Vice President Al Gore said that the global community will have to continue to respond to climate change after President Donald Trump’s \"reckless\" decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement. Gore said that evidence abounds that climate change is real (it is ), and people \"don’t have to rely on the virtually unanimous opinion of the scientific community anymore.\" \"Mother nature is telling us every night on the TV news now is like a nature hike through the book of Revelation,\" Gore said on Fox News Sunday on June 4. \"People are noticing this, these downpours and historic floods. We’ve had 11 once-in-a-thousand-year downpours in the U.S. just in the last 10 years. We’ve got these wildfires that become mega fires now. Seventy percent of Florida is in drought today. Missouri declared an emergency just a couple of days ago because of another one of these. And they keep on coming.\" Gore correctly cited a drought figure for Florida from a commonly used drought index. We will explain what that index shows and what the drought means in Florida. Most of Florida is in a drought A spokeswoman for Gore said that he was citing the United States Drought Monitor, a weekly map published on Thursdays showing drought conditions. The monitor, established in 1999, is produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. The map is based on measurements of climatic, hydrologic and soil conditions as well as reported impacts and observations from more than 350 contributors around the country. The monitor showed that 71.66 percent of Florida was in a moderate to extreme drought as of May 30. (The previous few weeks it had been between 65 and 66.) ![](\\" While that was the highest this year, there have been multiple other weeks that it reached similarly high levels since 2000. The last time the drought monitor showed Florida’s area of drought was as high as 71 percent was February 2013. As bad as this drought is, it’s been even worse. During two weeks in April 2012, 99.96 percent of Florida was in a drought. More than 72 percent of Florida was in a drought between late January and early June 2012. There was also an extended period of drought between December 2010 and July 2011 and between April and August 2007. There were also periods of drought in 2000-01. Florida’s dry season runs from about November through May and can leave Florida prone to drought conditions. If the dry season is drier than usual and the wet season is late to appear, a period of drought can run into summer, said Victor Murphy, climate service program manager for NOAA\'s National Weather Service-Southern Region. There is a small bit of good news: The return of the rainy season — under way this first week of June — should improve drought conditions. \"There have been at least three other instances in the past 10 years when this has occurred,\" Murphy said. \"Not coincidentally, all of these events began in the winter/spring (dry) season, and ended during the summer. This event will be similar. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Ron DeSantis stated on August 28, 2024 in a press conference The proposal to put golf courses, hotels in Florida state parks “was something that was leaked. … a lot of that stuff was half-baked and was not ready for prime time.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-false/6a6ef6075c162fdccf5eb960e683dcd1.jpg.\\") ![\\"barely- true\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 \"Since the Florida wet season has returned with a vengeance over the past week, and is forecast to continue over the next few weeks, the amount of Florida in drought two to four weeks from now should be substantially less than what it is today.\" Gore tied in several weather events to illustrate the effects of climate change. Experts told us that Florida is prone to periodic droughts, but rising temperatures as a result of climate change can make droughts worse. \"It’s part of the climate -- part of natural cycles,\" said David Zierden, the state climatologist for Florida who works at the Florida Climate Center at Florida State University. \"Our current drought is no worse or more prolonged than any other drought we go through periodically.\" This year the Florida Peninsula only received half of its normal rainfall during the dry season, leading to the most active wildfire season since 2011. Temperatures have been rising in Florida -- the statewide average temperature for 26 of the last 27 months have all been warmer than normal, Zierden said. \"There is an increasing temperature trend, and warmer temperatures lead to greater evapotranspiration rates, which can exacerbate these periods of drought,\" Zierden said. (Gore’s spokeswoman pointed to an article by the Union of Concerned Scientists that makes a similar point.) While Gore’s numerical statement about the drought is correct, David Nolan, chair of the University of Miami’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, cautioned against pointing to any particular weather event as proof of climate change. \"I am generally not comfortable with relating any local event, a drought in one place or a flood in another, to global warming,\" Nolan said. \"What matters most is global average temperature, because that drives sea level rise, which eventually will be the biggest problem.\" Our ruling Gore said \"70 percent of Florida is in drought today.\" Gore correctly cited the United States Drought Monitor which showed that 71.66 percent of Florida was experiencing a drought for the week ending May 30. However, that drought percentage isn’t unheard of in Florida -- there have been other periods of drought since 2000 when the monitor began mapping drought data. We rate this claim Mostly True. Share the Facts 2017-06-05 20:45:19 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" logo-big.jpg\\"/) 5 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" mostlytrue.jpg\\") PolitiFact Rating: Mostly True \"70 percent of Florida is in drought today.\" Al Gore former vice president ![](\\" Sunday, June 4, 2017 2017-06-04 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Fox News, \"Pruitt defends decision to withdraw from Paris climate deal; Al Gore weighs in,\" June 4, 2017 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Spring drought conditions expand in Florida, May 1, 2017 Accuweather, \"Soaking storms to ease drought across Florida this week,\" June 4, 2017 United States Drought Monitor, Florida, Released June 1, 2017 United States Drought Monitor, Statistics graph for Florida, 2000-2017 States at Risk, Florida Drought, Accessed June 5, 2017 Union of Concerned Scientists, \"Causes of Drought: What\'s the Climate Connection?\" Accessed June 5, 2017 WXShift, \"The Climate Context for Raleigh’s Rains and Florida’s Fires,\" April 25, 2017 Globalchange.gov, Extreme weather, Accessed June 5, 2017 Climatenexus, Drought, Accessed June 5, 2017 CNN, \"Haley: ‘President Trump believes the climate is changing,’\" June 4, 2017 PolitiFact, \"At New York debate, Donald Trump denies saying climate change is a Chinese hoax,\" Sept. 26, 2016 PolitiFact, \"Fact-checking Donald Trump\'s statement withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement,\" June 1, 2017 Interview, Brian A. Fuchs, Associate Geoscientist/Climatologist National Drought Mitigation Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln, June 5, 2017 Interview, David Zierden, state climatologist for Florida and Associate in Research Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies at Florida State University, June 5, 2017 Interview, Hayley Moller, Al Gore spokeswoman, June 4, 2017 Interview, Ben Kirtman, Director of the Center for Computational Science Climate and Environmental Hazards Program at the University of Miami, June 4, 2017 Interview, Richard Seager, Palisades Geophysical Institute/Lamont Research Professor Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, June 4, 2017 Interview, Victor Murphy, climate service program manager, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\'s National Weather Service-Southern Region, June 5, 2017 Interview, Aaron Keller, Agriculture Commissioner Adam H. Putnam spokesman, June 5, 2017 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Amy Sherman slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 22, 2024 in an Instagram post: There are nine states “where Biden’s name can’t be removed and no one can be added. That’s over 130 electoral votes in the toilet.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ranjan Jindal • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 17, 2024 in a campaign video: \"Unlike Mike Pence, (JD) Vance said he would have carried out Trump\'s plan to overturn the 2020 election.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kari Lake stated on July 16, 2024 in in a speech at RNC in Milwaukee: “Just last week, Ruben Gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 17, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\": A zero-tolerance policy during the Trump administration \"led to less family separation than under Kamala Harris\' border policies.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 26, 2024 in an interview with a podcaster: Vice President Kamala Harris “is a communist. … She is really a Marxist.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a speech in Las Vegas: “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 28, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 14, 2024 in a speech in California: Former President Donald Trump “cut overtime benefits for millions of workers.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on August 11, 2024 in an interview on CNN State of the Union: Gov. Tim Walz delivered paid family leave in Minnesota but “Republicans are blocking” a Biden-Harris proposal. ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 16, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 2, 2024 in a video: In Pompano Beach, Florida, Somali immigrants illegally in the U.S. were in line to get driver’s licenses and “all you need to vote is a driver\'s license.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 27, 2024 in a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota: During the 2020 Minnesota riots after George Floyd’s murder, Gov. Tim Walz didn’t call in the National Guard, “so, I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 3, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Kamala Harris “supports mandatory gun confiscation.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “wants to defund the police.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “supported abolishing ICE.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 29, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 22, 2024 in an Instagram post: There are nine states “where Biden’s name can’t be removed and no one can be added. That’s over 130 electoral votes in the toilet.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ranjan Jindal • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 17, 2024 in a campaign video: \"Unlike Mike Pence, (JD) Vance said he would have carried out Trump\'s plan to overturn the 2020 election.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kari Lake stated on July 16, 2024 in in a speech at RNC in Milwaukee: “Just last week, Ruben Gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 17, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\": A zero-tolerance policy during the Trump administration \"led to less family separation than under Kamala Harris\' border policies.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 26, 2024 in an interview with a podcaster: Vice President Kamala Harris “is a communist. … She is really a Marxist.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ### Al Gore says \'70 percent of Florida is in drought today\' * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: A video shows a body that Israel embedded with a bomb exploding during a Palestinian funeral procession. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in a post: “ESPN has fired Shannon Sharpe.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gideon Hess • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a post on Threads: An image shows Travis Kelce responding to Elon Musk X post that followed Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: Former President Donald Trump admitted during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he “blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Loreben Tuquero • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 10, 2024 in a Facebook post: Patron, Don Julio and Pink Whitney tequila recalled because they contained fecal matter. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Elissa Slotkin stated on September 11, 2024 in a TV ad: Mike Rogers supported “laws that could eliminate IVF and birth control.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 11, 2024 in an Instagram post: \"Debate moderators made the false claim to Donald Trump that there is nowhere in the United States where abortion is legal up until birth.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a Facebook post: ABC News fired presidential debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Yes on 4 stated on September 10, 2024 in a TV ad: Florida’s six-week abortion law has “no real exceptions. Not for her health. Not even for rape.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: Imagen muestra carnet del Partido Comunista de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • September 13, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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70 percent of Florida is in drought today