...The Florida Everglades is one of the largest natural wetlands in the world. Spanning over 1.5 million acres in Southern Florida, the Everglades is home to a thriving, yet fragile ecosystem of endangered species and native plants. Originally covering over 3 million acres, the area of the Everglades reduced drastically after settlers arrived in Southern Florida in the early 1900s. In order to sustain themselves, the settlers drained a large supply of water in the wetlands to build houses and plant crops. In addition, they built channels to maintain a constant supply of water for themselves and to shield themselves from frequent deadly floods. Unfortunately, significant amounts of water are extracted every year as residents of Florida have become dependent on the water available in the Everglades. In 1947, the government divided the Everglades in effort to preserve the remaining habitat, house a system of canals, dams, and dikes to control flooding, and to provide viable agricultural area to grow sugar cane. As a result, many species and plants native to the region were negatively impacted due to degradation of their habitat. On the other hand, there is hope to resolve this issue with the help of the Comprehensive...
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...Florida's Everglades is home to many residents such as snakes , alligators , bobcats foxes and a plethora of birds . When someone thinks of everglades ,they most likely think of danger , dirty and bug infested land . There is more to the everglades than what meets the eyes . Imagine if out of no where , the everglades in all its glory , disappeared . All of its inhabitants would be forced to relocate to another home .For this reason , the everglades are very important , so people don’t get caught up in the loss of the everglades . The everglades is a place where many pythons reside . Pythons are very beautiful , no doubt , but as the author of " Are the Everglades Forever? " likes to state , " They’ve managed to upset the natural food chain so drastically that the Everglades are starting to seem a little bit like Indiana Jones’s dreaded snake pit. Besides being creepy, an ecosystem overrun by pythons is unhealthy. " People who no longer wish to own their scaly pets decide that it would be a wise choice as to set them " free " . Not all snakes are comfortable in the wild , where they may be able to encounter other snakes such as themselves . Most of the snakes at the everglades can grow up to " 20 feet, which is longer than three adult men lying head-to-toe. " Although the everglades may still seen dangerous at first glance , there is...
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...The Value and Importance of the Everglades "Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!" Just kidding! There aren't any Lions, Tigers, or Bears in the Florida Everglades. The Florida Everglades is home to many fascinating creatures and plants such as pythons, alligators, fish, insects, and mangrove trees. The Everglades is a really important ecosystem and habitat for these plants and animals. They all work together and help each other out. For one example, the mangroves provide housing for fish, and the fish keep poisonous plants off the mangroves. There are many more reasons why the Everglades is so important and read on to see. Biodiversity plays a huge role in the ecosystems of wetlands such as the Florida Everglades. From the article, "Are the Everglades Forever," it says that "Biodiversity is a good thing. Having many different kinds of plants and animals means that species have different choices for survival....
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...in this semi-arid condominium filled part of Florida. These are not just part of concerned citizens and groups conservation active imagination these are ecological problems two of the greatest ecosystems in the world are facing today. Unless the United States and the State of Florida take steps to conserve coral reefs in the Florida Keys and restore the Florida Everglades today this is the reality of future generations. Coral Reefs Threats to coral reef are many, and the solution must be cohesive not scattered when addressing these threats. Implementing a cohesive ecosystem-based management approach is the key protecting the coral reefs from these threats. Ensuring a holistic and combined approach will support a healthy, living, resilient, coral reef. The methods used the Pacific Island coral reefs to preserve their ecosystems might not be the methods needed to meet the needs of the Florida Keys coral reef’s ecosystem. The different approaches necessary to maintain the varying community needs and address the local coral reef ecosystem is called a multidisciplinary approach. Multidisciplinary Approach The importance of a multidisciplinary approach to conserving the coral reefs of the Florida Keys cannot be under estimated. Knowing the physical, chemical, and biological needs of the living coral reef system is critical but alone cannot conserve the coral reef ecosystem. The support of the surrounding community in economic, political, and social support...
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...(Goodall, p180) .This land is a gift from god. Our land supplies us with food, shelter, and water. We must appreciate it, and love it. Mother Nature has done nothing but loves us back. We must learn not to bite the hands that feed us. According to Goodall (2009) “We are treading too harshly on the earth and consuming and degrading too much of the planet” (p.181). People have destroyed the state’s beautiful Everglades, and obliterated our natural land forms with new developments, and we have done nothing to stop it. Brown (2009) stated “Today we need a realistic view between the economy and the environment.” (p. 17). The relationship between people and the environment in “A Land Remembered” is destruction, exploitation of the land far beyond human needs, and the natural resource being non-existent. People began to develop new technologies that required natural resources, which we eventually abused. People developed new technology without being environmentally conscious and had no sense of awareness. As human beings, we selfishly chose long-term benefits of destroying Mother Nature while our environment suffers the consequences of our careless actions....
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...Mining in South Florida Carlos Socarras Professor – Karen Nead English-135 December 1, 2008 The reason I chose this topic for my research paper is because I feel that it is critical to help educate you a little on the importance of rock mining in South Florida and the consequences that we will endure without this local resource. Throughout this paper you will see me make reference to Titan Americas Pennsuco facility. This is mostly because I am currently employed by them and have been working in the Pennsuco cement plant for over nineteen years now, so I have managed to learn a lot of its history through time and experience. Another reason is the fact that as a fellow employee the ruling to eliminate rock mining in Florida directly affects me mainly because this decision would put me out of a job. I would first like to begin by giving you a brief history of the Pennsuco land and how Titan America acquired the facility, so that you can have a better understanding of the issues that we are currently experiencing. In the early 1900s, Pennsylvania Sugar Co., which is where the term “Pennsuco” came from was one of several companies that obtained large acreages and planted sugar cane on the drained “muck land” of the Florida Everglades. Operations were good until the Great Depression of the 1930s hit the sugar market. Today the Pennsuco cement plant is located on the former Pennsuco sugar Farms property. (Cement Americas, 2005) In 1962 the Pennsuco site was purchased...
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...2009). The first actual record of Burmese python was in 1979 in Everglades National Park, however the first established populations were recorded in 2000; at this point causing an increase in attention and investigation of these invaders. Burmese pythons can reach up to five and one half meters which is approximately 18 feet, weigh up to 150 pounds and a female can produce anywhere from eight to 107 eggs. The diet of pythons range from mammals, fish, amphibians, birds, and even other reptiles. Although they are not venomous they are powerful biters and constrictors. It has yet to be determined the mean at which these reptiles were introduced to South Florida through either intentional release via the release of unwanted pets or the accidental release: the escape of pets or even the media speculated event of Hurricane Andrew 1992 causing the release of snakes out of a snake sanctuary (has yet to be...
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...Okeechobee’s Herbert Hoover Dike: An Accident Waiting to Happen Imagine people sitting in their homes, hearing a thunderous rushing sound, and feeling the floor beneath their feet lifted from foundations. Or watching as flood waters force themselves inside as the residents cling to roofs? In 1926, and again in 1928, these scenarios happened all around Lake Okeechobee. Several thousand people died (Pfost). If the current dike around Lake Okeechobee is not extensively repaired or replaced, the area will flood again. It is no longer a question of if the dike fails, but when it does. The Dike’s History Lake Okeechobee is approximately 730 square miles and is critical to South Florida’s water needs and to the Everglades (Bromwell, Dean, & Vick 3). Much of its importance is derived from its proximity to farms, ranches, and surrounding small communities. Besides being dependent on the water, the communities also depend on the lake’s dike to keep residents safe from flooding. This is especially important because the area’s population has increased dramatically since the dike’s construction began. A dike failure now would be more extensive than in 1928, and it would cause “tens of billions of dollars” in property damage (Herbert Hoover 18)....
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...“Approximately 42% of threatened or endangered species are at risk primarily due to invasive species”. This is an environmental issue that I find particularly interesting because it is often overshadowed by more highly publicized issues. I was motivated to research this topic after reading a story about how humans had introduced pythons into the Everglades and the terrible consequences of those actions. Invasive species have left an atrocious path of destruction throughout recent history and their presence is only growing. When approaching this situation we need to view the natural and human introduction of invasive animals, what the effects are on all living creatures, and what we are doing to bring about a solution. Non-native species are...
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...the broad range of contemporary water challenges currently observed within the American South without examining this region's history of water. Flood hazards are not an uncommon phenomenon, and as such the civic and social debates regarding how to plan for them have long been discussed. Although risks of dwindling water supplies are being globally witnessed more and more each day, the morass of explanations as to “why” can be observed through the shifting patterns of land settlement, advancements in technology, and ever increasing consumption. To conceptually grasp the current and oncoming limits to water...
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...protect the land these animals need to survive. One of the ways The Nature Conservancy hopes to expand land safe for the Florida Panthers is by “establishing links to connect existing green spaces” (“Save the Florida Panther” 3). Doing so, the Conservancy has been able to protect thousands of acres of prime panther habitat (“Save the Florida Panther” 3). Defenders of Wildlife along with other conservation organizations have also researched and worked on a Habitat Conservation Plan hoping “to secure a contiguous range of panther habitat” (“Protecting and Restoring” 2). The Defenders of Wildlife have also tried to get an amendment passed to use documentary stamp tax that would help provide over $10 billion for land water conservation, which would help restore the Everglades. Habitat loss, also invokes another major threat for Florida Panthers, which is car crashes. These collisions occur because panthers cross roads, which are built in the middle of their habitat, in order to find prey. Auto collisions are the number one way the panthers are dying. In 2014, twenty-five panthers were killed in a crash, which is a major loss for a species on the verge of extinction. In order to reduce these deaths, the Defenders of Wildlife have installed a Roadside Animal Detection System, which will protect panthers and other wildlife. This system is currently being tested, but if it is successful, it will help detect panthers and wildlife, providing further research to protect them from auto collisions...
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...being carless and uneducated about the things I do and don’t do that have a direct impact on the environment. Such as eating out almost every night, constantly purchasing new gadgets every time they come out, never buying used clothing etc. Before this class I never gave a second thought to these things. Learning about the clean water act as well as the clean air act was really interesting. I take clean water and air for granted all the time. I am used to going outside and just expecting to breathe clean air as if it’s a right and not a privilege. When I want to brush my teeth or take a shower I don’t think about how my water got clean or where it comes from I just expect it to be there and to be healthy for consumption and use. It amazes me how we take so many of our resources for granted and we just assume that they will always be here for us to use. I couldn’t believe how much resources and energy we use in the United States alone and how much waste we generate. Seeing video of water being so dirty that it catches fire and witnessing the death of a sea because of pollution and waste was uncanny. To know that one day we will be at war over clean water bothers me. In my opinion we have advanced firsthand knowledge of a lot of our issues. It’s not like we wake up one day and these things just appear we are forewarned and we take too long to take action which results in disaster. Lately I have noticed that more people...
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...2003 Sustaining Healthy Freshwater Ecosystems SUMMARY Fresh water is vital to human life and economic well-being, and societies extract vast quantities of water from rivers, lakes, wetlands, and underground aquifers to supply the requirements of cities, farms, and industries. Our need for fresh water has long caused us to overlook equally vital benefits of water that remains in stream to sustain healthy aquatic ecosystems. There is growing recognition, however, that functionally intact and biologically complex freshwater ecosystems provide many economically valuable commodities and services to society. These services include flood control, transportation, recreation, purification of human and industrial wastes, habitat for plants and animals, and production of fish and other foods and marketable goods. Over the long term, intact ecosystems are more likely to retain the adaptive capacity to sustain production of these goods and services in the face of future environmental disruptions such as climate change. These ecosystem benefits are costly and often impossible to replace when aquatic systems are degraded. For this reason, deliberations about water allocation should always include provisions for maintaining the integrity of freshwater ecosystems. Scientific evidence indicates that aquatic ecosystems can be protected or restored by recognizing the following: • Rivers, lakes, wetlands, and their connecting ground waters are literally the “sinks” into which landscapes drain. Far...
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...million species are thought to exist, and nearly a quarter of them will disappear during the lifetimes of middle-aged human beings (Bender, Leone, Stalcup 81). 150 to 200 species go extinct every twenty-four hours. This is one thousand times the rate it is naturally. Extinction growth is directly correlated with human population growth (Scott). It is happening one thousand times faster because of humans. Species Extinction is a serious problem of the present and future. Events occurring, such as ecosystem collapse, are detrimental to our society and the way we live. Everyone should be informed on the importance of biodiversity, the causes, effects, and ways to prevent these problems....
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...BIO-FUELS With the rising need for development with sustenance, the importance of biofuels is rapidly creating a wave amongst the current manufacturers. Bio-fuel is presumed to be an innovative successor to the fast depleting non-renewable sources of energy. What is bio-fuel? A biofuel is a fuel that is produced through contemporary biological processes, such as agriculture and anaerobic digestion, rather than a fuel produced by geological processes such as those involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum, from prehistoric biological matter. The history of bio-fuels dates back to several centuries and had been discovered as a primitive resource much prior to the discovery of electricity and fossil fuel. They...
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