The impact of climate change on Tampa will do fine as a project topic. First, make sure to keep the research scientific. While you may want to mention politics, economics, history, etc. make sure to keep this to a minimum. This may be difficult with this politically fueled topic, so be careful. Also don’t focus on biology (plants and animals). Instead, focus on the Earth Science behind the topic. What are the general characteristics (location, area, elevation, topography etc.), what about sea level rise, what are the current rates, how is it monitored, what are future predictions, what about coastal erosion, what about hurricanes and increased intensity, how is this related to increased sea surface temps, how are they monitored, how might increase temps impact FL weather, what about t-storm frequency and strength, what about flooding and drought, how about forest fires, how have temps changes over time, what about future predictions, and so on. Steer clear of general interest sources (about.com, how stuff works, blogs, news sources, etc.), political lobbyists and sources designed to teach children that are over simplified. Never cite Wikipedia, but you can start there and link to the references which are often credible. Some great sources of information are NOAA, NWS, AMS Journals, scientific journals on meteorology/coastal research/oceanography, and colleges and universities that have studied climate change in Florida.
