By most expert accounts, Gov. Rick Scott’s tenure in Tallahassee has been a flat-out catastrophe for the Sunshine State’s already fragile environment. He slashed water management budgets and stacked regulatory board with developers. He battled tooth-and-nail against new clean water mandates. Even muttering the words “climate change” was banned in…
As if we didn’t already have enough cockroaches in South Florida, there’s a new beast in town. Last month, environmental scientist Marc Minno was ruffling through stacks of papers on his office floor, in Live Oak, Florida, north of Gainesville, when he spotted an interesting looking bug. He wasn’t startled,…
The latest doom and gloom climate change prediction has arrived this week — and it’s a doozy. The study, written by alarmist (but still reputable and regularly correct) climate change scientist James Hansen predicts that sea level will rise 10 feet in the next 50 years. That seems like a lot,…
Miami is a sweaty city. Residents stick to their leather car seats. They turn back home if they forget to roll on deodorant. The probability of pit stains determines whether anyone wears sleeves that day. Miamians tackle their secreting fluids from just about every orifice: boob sweat, crotch sweat, under-the-knee…
Think oil and gas drilling and nuclear power plants are only way to power South Florida’s economy? Think again. A group of Stanford scholars say they’ve proven that it is “technically and economically feasible” to run Florida’s economy 100 percent on renewable energy. And they’ve already done all the hard work…
This past February, the Palm Beach Post published renderings of Echo Brickell, a 57-story skyscraper planned for Brickell Avenue. The opulent interior looked incredible, particularly the avant-garde 12,000-gallon shark tank. In the image published by the Post, two large sharks circled a center column. The residential units, according to the…
A newly surfaced map documenting water taxi routes for next year’s Miami Boat Show has Village of Key Biscayne officials and environmentalists up in arms. The proposed map, meant to alleviate traffic on Virginia Key Beach during the five-day event, criss-crosses protected manatee zones and critical wildlife areas. The map…
About 45 years ago, Dade County Mayor Chuck Hall had a grand idea. He wanted to build one of the world’s largest and most advanced airports smack dab in the middle of what is now known as the Big Cypress National Preserve. Environmentalists bulked, and the plan was abandoned after…
As legend has it, in 1945, six fishermen embarked from the seaside town of Cojimar in Cuba to find the underwater monster that was devouring their fish. The crew took off in a small boat, armed only with ropes and harpoons. After they caught the creature, they spent the night…
Florida has done little to distinguish itself as a bike and pedestrian friendly state; in fact, it’s consistently ranked among the most dangerous in America for the two-wheeled set and for walkers. So it’s notable that among the hundreds of bills that went into effect this week is one that…
David Shiffman cringes whenever he watches the Discovery Channel and finds mermaids, megalodons, or zombie sharks on air. But for the 30-year-old University of Miami graduate student, Shark Week is the worst. That’s because Shiffman has spent his career researching actual science about sharks. The way he sees it, few popular…
Last month, scientists released rare good news in Florida’s endless fight against invasive species: After collecting more than 150,000 giant African land snails, they’d nearly eradicated the pest from the Sunshine State. That’s great, because they’ve got a new disgusting import to turn their attention to. A peer-reviewed study published…
Last week, TV stations and wire reports began spreading an urgent warning from the Florida Department of Health: A flesh-eating bacteria was spreading in Florida’s oceans, health officials warned. More than 30 swimmers have been infected in the past year, including seven in 2015. Two people have already died this…
Roger Hammer is searching for wildflowers. A wilderness photographer since 1972, the tall, sturdy 70-year-old has spent much of his life in the world-famous swamps of South Florida. With a long gray ponytail swaying across his back, he steps over the soft, algae-covered slough floor about 60 miles west of…
It starts out as a light wind and a few small waves lapping the shore. But in less than a minute, the minor storm becomes brutal. Howling winds turn the water choppy and rough and storm surges are so massive that they consume a small house. With 157 mph winds,…
Florida has gone almost 10 years since receiving a direct hit from a hurricane. The last time a cane actually touched our shores was when Hurricane Wilma made landfall in late October 2005. That’s an awfully long (though not necessarily scientifically strange) gap for hurricanes in Florida. The world and…
Hey Miami, hear those mangos falling and exploding on your roof? That can only mean one thing: Hurricane season is here. So are the same stories you read every year about the need to stock up on the basics: water, canned goods, flashlights, and other items on your average hurricane supply…
Animal rights activists for years have complained that an orca named Lolita at the Miami Seaquarium has been held in unsafe conditions. Now, an investigation by federal authorities into the safety of the trainers who perform with the killer whale has lead to a big change at the park. A…
Florida Republicans haven’t exactly been making headlines for their progressive action on climate change. But a lone Republican has begun to push for action within his party. Representative Carlos Curbelo, who represents Florida’s 26th Congressional District, which stretches from Miami to Key West, says he understands climate change is “a…
A few months after Hurricane Sandy bared down on New York, killing over 150 people and wreaking $65 billion in damage, city leaders cried for help to make their city more flood-proof. Dutch expert Henk Ovink answered. Ovink had helped make his homeland, where 55 percent of the country is…
Florida’s finally getting closer to totally eradicating the Giant African land snails that have plagued the state since an outbreak in late 2011. The snails were first found in Coral Gables, a year after a religious leader named Charles L. Stewart of Hialeah smuggled them into the country and made…
Legendary Florida environmentalist Nathaniel Reed has added his voice to the chorus of disapproval for Florida’s legislature, saying their failure to enact key legislation — as the House quit early over a Medicaid funding fight — has made the state “the laughing stock of the country.” Among the many bills…
