September 2024

Here's a story of students who were willing to give up long summer days spent amusing themselves - in order to dedicate time to cleaning up the Canaveral Marshes Conservation Area, in the upper St. Johns River Basin.  The students in question were members of the Brevard County 4-H leadership club, part of a youth development program open to young people aged 5-18. 

The students organize quarterly cleanups on behalf of the Brevard Soil and Water Conservation District, clearing away litter left behind as a result of the hiking, biking, fishing, boating and other activities enjoyed by people visiting the Conservation Area all year round.

As well as gaining valuable hands-on experience of organizing and delivering the clean-ups, the students gain valuable insight into the local flora and fauna. On this latest summer break clean-up they spotted wild turkeys and many of the other wading birds that make their home in the marshes. 

Programs like this create a lasting impression on young people - providing both a genuine insight into the wildlife that depends on these areas  and an understanding of the hard work required to ensure our natural spaces remain viable for the benefit of all.

This month saw the completion of a combined flood control and pollution prevention project located in Osceola County, a project which was a direct response to flooding in the area caused by Hurricane Ian in September 2022. 

The project kicked off in April of this year and has a budget of $2 million over the next decade. The speedy delivery of the project, which will store over a billion gallons of water in two distinct water management areas, was made possible by co-operation between the owners of the Partin Family Ranch where the project is located, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Osceola County, the Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District. 

As well as preventing flooding, the project will remove the nutrients that lead to algae blooms - before releasing water into Lake Okeechobee. This is projected to remove some 11,000 pounds of nitrogen and 800 pounds of phosphorus per year. 

Holding the water north of the lake for a longer period will mimic the natural, slower flow that was typical of the Everglades prior to widespread development. Not only this, it will protect the system from pollutants contained in stormwater runoff from the likes of commercial, agricultural, and residential lawn fertilizers and septic tanks.

One of the key planks of any push to mitigate the impact of a changing climate is almost bound to be a shift toward cleaner energy. This month, the Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) placed our state at the forefront of efforts to make the change with the unveiling of an innovative hydrogen hub project. 

The aim of the project – which is due to come online in 2026 – is to combine hydrogen with natural gas to achieve net-zero emissions. The hydrogen will be created using solar energy to power a process of water electrolysis. It will then produce power for the Waterford Works Power Plant, before the power is transferred to other facilities in the region. 

The fact that the hydrogen produces zero emissions and no greenhouse gasses means that once the hub is operational it will be one of the most advanced green energy centers in the world. The hydrogen will be blended with natural gas, a cost-effective alternative to developing dedicated hydrogen pipelines, meaning that as well as reducing the environmental impact of energy production the hydrogen hub will play a role in lowering energy costs for consumers. 

A changing  climate presents us with many challenges. The best solutions are those that combine benefits to the natural world with benefits for the people most likely to be impacted by their implementation.

We found a good example of this phenomenon in the city of Miami this month, in the shape of something called urban agriculture. It’s basically what it sounds like – farming taking place in urban areas, in an effort to develop those areas in a more sustainable manner, boost the infrastructure of those towns and cities and enhance food security. 

A study published this month by UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center (FLREC) found that residents in places like Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties recognized benefits of urban agriculture beyond simply food production. These benefits included the creation of greener spaces, improved air quality, lower air temperature and a stronger sense of community. The findings underline the great potential urban agriculture could play in enhancing community well-being, with those residents living the nearest to urban farms having the most positive opinions on the subject. Further to this, the positive perception of urban agriculture is likely to establish this concept firmly into urban planning in the future.

Sometimes the push for sustainability and a cleaner, greener environment can become more complicated than it first appears. Take the topic of coal-fired power plants, for example. Over the next 30 years or so the state of Florida plans to shift away from these sites and toward more renewable energy, and while this is clearly a positive move on the whole, the downside is that it is likely to have a hugely negative impact on a creature closely associated with the waters around the state – the manatee. 

If the temperature of the water drops below 68°F, manatees become vulnerable to cold stress syndrome, which can cause their skin and parts of their tail to die. As industrialization and rising sea levels have limited the manatee’s access to their natural habitat, the loveable creatures have taken to spending winters floating in the warm water discharges from the power plants. This warm water suits them just fine - however, manatees exhibit what is called ‘site fidelity’, meaning they return to the same spots year on year and it’s feared that removing this warm water source could mean a serious decline in the manatee population of Florida - by as much as 30%.

It’s a problem that hasn’t gone unnoticed or without action on the part of conservationists given the solutions are monumental in size and take time to implement. Possible solutions include digging deep water basins heated via solar or gas power to form warm water spots along the migratory routes of the manatees, as well as restoring and maintaining former natural habitats favored by manatees such as warm springs.

Some impacts of climate change are certainly less obvious than others. While we can’t fail to take note of tropical storms, hurricanes and flooding, the combination of heavy rainfall this year on the back of drought conditions last year has helped to fuel another ‘storm’. 

In this case, it’s a storm of mosquitoes. The drought in 2023 meant that many mosquito eggs laid in the ground last year didn’t hatch until the record-breaking rains delivered by Tropical Storm Debby in June. These conditions, combined with the heavy rains that left standing water across the state - resulting in places such as Collier County, Naples, Golden Gate Estates, Immokalee and Ave Maria experiencing higher than usual populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes. 

One worrying development is the arrival of a disease new to Florida called Oropouche which is transmitted by biting midges and some mosquitoes. The practical advice for anyone impacted by rising mosquitoes numbers, as given by the Collier Mosquito Control District is to wear long sleeves and long pants whenever possible, avoid going out at dawn or dusk and wear an EPA-registered mosquito repellent that contains an active ingredient such as DEET.  It’s fair to say that just reading this made us feel quite itchy!

A news release from Florida International University this month stated that an invasive seagrass which could cause problems for the local ecosystem has been spotted for the first time ever in waters around the U.S.  More specifically, the seagrass, called Halophila stipulacea, has been identified in Crandon Marina and nearby areas of Biscayne Bay, South Florida. 

Florida currently boasts 2.2 million acres of native seagrasses, which help to feed wildlife such as sea turtles and manatees as well as providing a natural habitat for fish, shrimp, stone crabs, scallops and other shellfish. Seagrass also removes carbon from the air and stores it over the long term, something which is good for the planet as a whole. 

The invasive seagrass, which is native to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, is highly adaptable and robust and can spread by attaching to items such as boat propellers or hulls. 

While the risk posed by the new seagrass is difficult to quantify, scientists feel that the importance of native seagrasses to a thriving marine environment in South Florida means that surveys and monitoring across the area should be ramped up to keep track of the interloper.