Environment of Florida
The environment of Florida in the United States yields an array of land and marine life in a mild subtropical climate.
[1] Land development and water use have transformed the state, primarily through drainage and infill of the wetlands that once covered most of the peninsula.
[3] As urban and suburban development have increased over the last decades, demand for groundwater has also risen, resulting in damage and drying out of portions of the cave system.
As World War II came to an end, thousands of people moved to Florida, bringing about a sharp population increase.
Saltwater intrusion became an issue in wells in the southern part of the state, and large wildfires consumed parcels of farmland, destroying the peat which had made the land so fertile.
[16] Extensive flooding in 1947, during which 90 percent of the state south of Orlando was underwater, made it clear that the current drainage projects were not beneficial to the environment, to farmers, or to the developing cities.
While the project delivered on the promise of flood protection, it also destroyed much of a floodplain-dependent ecosystem that nurtured threatened and endangered species, as well as hundreds of other native fish and wetland-dependent animals.
After the waterway was transformed into a straight, deep canal, it became oxygen-depleted and the fish community it supported changed dramatically.
[28] Studies show that Florida is among a string of "Deep South" states that will experience the worst economic and environmental effects of climate change.
[30] Florida ranks forty-fifth in total energy consumption per capita, despite the heavy reliance on air conditioners and pool pumps.
[34] In July 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced plans to sign executive orders that would impose strict new air-pollution standards in the state, with aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050.
Crist's orders would set new emissions targets for power companies, automobiles and trucks, and toughen conservation goals for state agencies and require state-owned vehicles to use alternative fuels.
[35] Governor Charlie Crist and both of Florida's senators, Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, oppose offshore drilling and exploration.
[39] On 22 January 2008, Florida's Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner announced funding for four commercial ethanol and biodiesel production facilities, and an additional eight demonstration and research projects.
It is believed that significant energy resources are located off of Florida's western coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but that region has been closed to exploration since 1981.
St. Lucie County is planning to experiment with burning trash through plasma arc gasification to generate energy and reduce landfill space.
[48] Florida's Energy, Climate Change, and Economic Security Act of 2008 set a goal of progressively improving recycling to reach a 75 percent rate by the year 2020.
[52] A 2003 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization study stated that the Florida Straits had the highest biodiversity in the Atlantic Ocean, and were the home to 25 endemic species.
From the 1940s to the 1970s, the state and federal government assumed control of burning that largely prevented uncontrolled fires.
[64] In 2010, NOAA, citing the Magnuson-Stevens Act, banned fishing of red snapper until the population has time to recover.
[65] Florida's Atlantic coast is home to the only extensive coral reefs in the continental United States,[66] and the third largest in the world.
The Florida scrub jay has been thought to be threatened for many years, because the species is territorial and cannot move to better grounds when its habitat is jeopardized.
This biodiversity leaves much of Florida's ecological ecosystem vulnerable to invasive species and human sources of industrial pollution and waste.
Other foreign pests include the Asian ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) threatens the local avocado industry and redbay trees (Persea borbonia).
The effects of climate change in Florida are attributable to man-made increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Floridians are experiencing increased flooding due to sea level rise, and are concerned about the possibility of more frequent or more intense hurricanes.
[77] The state has been described as America's "ground zero" for climate change, global warming and sea level rise, because "the majority of its population and economy is concentrated along low-elevation oceanfront.
