Climate & Environment

Scientists are testing cyanobacteria in the Caloosahatchee River to better understand how harmful algar blooms develop and why.

If you’ve lived in Florida long enough, you know neon-green iguanas are just part of the scenery — no different from an anti-abortion billboard or an O.J. Simpson sighting. But green iguanas are actually an invasive species. Earlier this month, state wildlife officials made national news after announcing that, yes, it is in fact perfectly legal to kill an iguana for setting foot on your land.

Dr. Cheryl Holder was volunteering at the Overtown Music & Arts Festival this past weekend when an 11-year-old girl was brought in to the medical tent. The temperature was in the low 90s, but the heat index level — a combination of heat and humidity that more accurately explains what the temperature feels like — was closer to triple digits. Noticing the girl was extremely ill and unaware of her surroundings, Holder treated her young patient for heat exhaustion.

From the oaks of Coconut Grove to the mahoganies of the Upper Eastside, the trees in Miami give each neighborhood a distinctive flair. So, for years, the City of Miami — which is designated a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation — has passed myriad regulations protecting the canopy and preventing residents from chopping down trees without significant approval.

Two years ago, an Israeli theater student, Elizabeth “Ellie” Goldenberg, went on an airboat ride only one day after graduating from the University of Miami. The trip began innocently enough, but five minutes into the ride, the boat tipped over while trying to navigate around a disabled vessel. In an instant, the passengers were thrown from the airboat and Goldenberg was crushed beneath the engine cage. A toxicology report later showed the airboat operator had high levels of THC in his system.

On the outskirts of Wynwood is a colorful warehouse-turned-Airbnb where 25 teenagers are on a mission to save the world. As electronic and pop music plays loudly inside, students huddle together on their laptops to put the finishing touches on their plans for this weekend’s Youth Climate Summit in Miami.

An official from the Army Corps of Engineers confirmed yesterday what people have known for years: the Corps has been dumping toxic water from Lake Okeechobee into local estuaries without warning the populace.

For most Brickell denizens, word of a new condo or hotel hardly turns heads anymore. Skyscrapers and midrise buildings have long become part of the scenery in the neighborhood after decades of intermittent construction booms transformed the once-sleepy residential area into a jutting skyline.

On a typically sweltering day in Miami Beach, a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau was patrolling the deck to make sure all of the guests were satisfied. Peering through his black-rimmed sunglasses around the pool, he knew where guests liked to mingle and which glasses of lemonade and booze needed topping off. The one thing he didn’t know: where the heck to recycle plastic on the Fontainebleau property.

Well, folks, it’s yet another day in Miami where a mildly significant rainstorm is bringing huge portions of the Magic City to a grinding halt! Who’s excited? Throw your hands in the air if you’re pumped for our pending climate apocalypse!

Back in 2012, Miami Beach agreed to make Coca-Cola its “official non-alcoholic beverage sponsor.” Under the terms of the ten-year contract, only Coke products would be sold in vending machines on city property, Coca-Cola would be the official sponsor of all city-run special events, and Miami Beach would commit to buying a whopping 22,500 cases of Coke beverages each year.

For years now, environmentalists have complained that the pumps Miami Beach uses to keep streets from flooding are polluting Biscayne Bay. Photos and videos from residents show plumes of dirty runoff being discharged into the water — and in one case, swallowed by a manatee.

Florida residents currently stand to bear the largest cost burden for sea-level rise and climate adaptation. Twenty-three Florida counties face costs of more than $1 billion for seawall expenses, according to the Center for Climate Integrity.

As the planet heats up, the water surrounding Miami Beach is becoming warmer. And as temperatures rise, the Atlantic Ocean has turned into the perfect breeding ground for sargassum seaweed, a type of floating algae that’s now invaded coastlines in South Florida and the Caribbean.

If you spent Father’s Day emptying out your flooded car with a bucket, there’s more bad news this morning: Meteorologists with the National Weather Service are predicting even more rain and flooding. The Miami metro area is expected to get 1 to 2 more inches of rain today — and thunderstorms are in the forecast every day this week, until at least next Sunday.

Century-old Australian pines occupying the median on Miami Beach’s landmark Pine Tree Drive will be pruned this month, in the interest of public safety.

It’s difficult to comprehend how much plastic is used only once. About 40 percent of the 448 million tons produced each year is intended to be disposable, according to National Geographic, and what doesn’t get recycled or dumped in a landfill often ends up in the ocean.

If you live in, say, Maine or Oregon, you likely don’t spend a ton of time thinking about the meteorological concept of wind shear. But for Floridians, the concept becomes immediately important from June 1 through November 30 every year.

Coral reefs are more than just unique, irreplaceable ecosystems full of the Earth’s natural wonders: Studies show they also act as natural storm-surge barriers that help break up gigantic waves before they steamroll over cities such as Miami.

Dusty “Wild Man” Crum is a Sarasota, Florida native who’s been hands-on with nature his whole life. For years he’s been capturing and removing invasive pythons from the Everglades with a team of hunters, and now his efforts will be featured on a new Discovery Channel show: “Guardians of the Glades.”

Yesterday, the South Miami City Commission unanimously passed a resolution saying the city will transition to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by the year 2040.