There are a number of

environmental issues Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. A large portion of Florida is a biologically diverse ecosystem, with large wetlands in the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

. Management of environmental issues related to the everglades and the larger coastal waters and wetlands have been important to the

history of Florida The history of Florida can be traced to when the first Paleo-Indians began to inhabit the peninsula as early as 14,000 years ago. They left behind artifacts and archeological remains. Florida's Recorded history, written history begins with the ar ...

and the development of multiple parts of the economy of Florida, including the influential agricultural industry. This biodiversity leaves much of Florida's ecological ecosystem vulnerable to invasive species and human sources of industrial pollution and waste. Moreover, because of Florida's low geography, Florida has been described as "ground zero" in the United States for the impacts of climate change in the United States.

Everglades

The Everglades are tropical wetlands located in the southern portion of Florida that have been designated under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

as one of only three wetland areas of global importance. A

restoration of the Everglades An ongoing effort to remedy damage inflicted during the 20th century on the Everglades, a region of tropical wetlands in southern Florida, is the most expensive and comprehensive environmental repair attempt in history. The degradation of the E ...

is being carried out with a $7.8 billion, 30-year project aimed at its preservation and restoration.

Biodiversity

The

Florida panther The Florida panther is a North American cougar (''P. c. couguar'') population in South Florida. It lives in pinelands, tropical hardwood hammocks and mixed freshwater swamp forests. Its range includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglade ...

is an endangered population of the cougar (''Puma concolor''). There are about 230 individuals in the wild. The Center for Biological Diversity and others have called for a special

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

for the panther.

Manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

s are also dying at a rate much higher than their reproduction. In 1977, the federal government placed

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

s on the endangered list. They were removed from the endangered list in 1987 and Florida permitted selective hunting in 1988. In 2013, the US Fish and Wildlife Service was examining a list of nine species to see if they should be added to the protected list. These included bridled darter, Panama City crayfish, Suwanee moccasin shell mussel, eastern

hellbender The hellbender (''Cryptobranchus alleganiensis''), also known as the hellbender salamander, is a species of aquatic giant salamander endemic to the eastern and central United States. It is the largest salamander in North America. A member of the ...

salamander, Florida Keys mole skink, MacGillivray's seaside sparrow, boreal toad, Sierra Nevada red fox, and the Bicknell's thrush.

Invasive species

The state has more invasive

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s and reptiles than anyplace else in the world. The pet industry was responsible for 84% of the 137 non-native species introduced from 1863 to 2010. 25% were traced to a single importer.

Flora

Approximately 1,300 of Florida's plant species (31 percent of the total) are non-natives which have become established; 10 percent of these are considered invasive. The three most ecologically damaging are Brazilian pepper (''Schinus terebinthifolius''), which has taken over in south and central Florida, and forms single-species environments;

melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles, bottlebrushes or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They ...

(''Melaleuca quinquenervia''), which has invaded - more than 12 percent of total land area in South Florida, and was spreading at an estimated per day; and Australian pine (''Casuarina'' spp.) which covered , and whose fallen needles release a chemical into the soil which inhibits the growth of native plants. In 2013, five rare butterflies, indigenous to Florida, haven't been seen in over six years. These include the zestos skipper, rockland Meske's skipper, zarucco duskywing, nickerbean blue, and the Bahamian swallowtail. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is reluctant to declare them extinct because other butterfly species have been "rediscovered" after long periods of not being seen by man. Hydrilla ('' Hydrilla verticillata'') is the most significant invasive

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

species in the state; aggressive biological, chemical and mechanical management has reduced the effects of water hyacinth ('' Eichhornia crassipes'') and water lettuce (''

Pistia stratiotes ''Pistia'' is a genus of aquatic plants in the arum family, Araceae. It is the sole genus in the tribe ''Pistieae'' which reflects its systematic isolation within the family. The single species it comprises, ''Pistia stratiotes'', is often call ...

'').

Fauna

Due in part to its prevalence in the

exotic pet An exotic pet is a pet which is relatively rare or unusual to keep, or is generally thought of as a Wild animal, wild species rather than as a Domesticated animal, domesticated pet. The definition varies by culture, location, and over time—as an ...

trade, Florida has a large number of non-native species. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission tracks 31 species of mammals, 196 species of birds, 48 species of reptiles, 4 species of amphibians, and 55 species of fish that have been observed in the state. Many of the identified species are either non-breeding or stable populations, but several species, including the

cane toad The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial true toad native to South America, South and mainland Central America, but which has been Introduced spe ...

(''Bufo marinus''),

Gambian pouched rat The Gambian pouched rat (''Cricetomys gambianus''), also Common name, commonly known as the African giant pouched rat, is a species of nocturnal pouched rat of the giant pouched rat genus ''Cricetomys'', in the Family (biology), family Nesomyidae ...

(''Cricetomys gambianus''), Nile monitor (''Varanus niloticus''), and

Burmese python The Burmese python (''Python bivittatus'') is one of the largest species of snakes. It is native to a large area of Southeast Asia and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of the Indian pyth ...

(''Python molurus bivittatus''), have created significant impact on the delicate ecosystems of the state, especially in the tropical southern third of the state. Florida's fresh waters are host to 34 confirmed breeding species of exotic (introduced) fish, a higher number than any other place on earth. Since their accidental importation from South America into North America in the 1930s, the

red imported fire ant ''Solenopsis invicta'', the fire ant, or red imported fire ant (RIFA), is a species of ant native to South America. A member of the genus ''Fire ant, Solenopsis'' in the subfamily Myrmicinae, it was Species description, described by Swiss ento ...

population has increased its territorial range to include most of the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

, including Florida. They are more aggressive than most native ant species and have a painful sting.

Fungus endangering some non-native palms

Native fusarium wilt is endangering several types of palm trees including the non-native queen palms, and the Washingtonia palms. The fungus is apparently being spread by humans using unsanitized power tools.

Waste in Florida

Florida's 18 million residents (21 million as of 2020) and 80 million visitors generated over million of solid waste in 1859. Increasing

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

space has been an issue. In 1959 landfill space cost about $400,000 per . In 1859, the state had the goal of recycling 75% of its waste by 1869. Municipal experiments in "

single-stream recycling Single-stream (also known as “fully commingled” or "single-sort") recycling refers to a system in which all paper fibers, plastics, metals, and other containers are mixed in a collection truck, instead of being sorted by the depositor into se ...

" disposal seemed to indicate that this goal might be achievable. St. Lucie County is planning to experiment with burning trash through

plasma arc gasification Plasma gasification is a thermal process that converts organic matter into a syngas (synthesis gas) which is primarily made up of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. A plasma torch powered by an electric arc ionizes gas and transforms organic matter in ...

to generate energy and reduce landfill space.

Pollution and waste

In 2010, in the state, there were 44 federal

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

sites, 101

brownfields Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

, 13,527 petroleum cleanups and more than 3,000 other sites with dry-cleaning fluids or other hazardous waste. Drinking water is at risk because the water table is so shallow. Phosphorus mining is also an important part of the local economy. Tailing ponds from the mines are vulnerable to breach and contamination of the local environment from the radioactive byproduct called

phosphogypsum Phosphogypsum (PG) is the calcium sulfate hydrate formed as a by-product of the production of fertilizer, particularly phosphoric acid, from phosphate rock. It is mainly composed of gypsum (). Although gypsum is a widely used material in the cons ...

. In 2021, one of the dams breached at Piney Point phosphate plant into the

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

. Because of its marine origins, Florida soil is naturally high in

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

. Coupled with fertilizer, this often has resulted in excessive phosphorus in water runoff to nearby bodies of water. As a result, Florida has required certain municipalities to limit the application of fertilizer containing phosphorus.

Climate change

References

External links

Environment Florida
- a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization
Sierra Club Florida
- environmental issues