Florida — home of armed iguana hunters, exploding toilets, and the nation’s grandparents — just so happens to be the perfect petri dish for algal blooms. Because blue-green algae absorb energy from the sun and quickly grow in warm freshwater, the Sunshine State offers optimal conditions for the microorganisms called cyanobacteria to thrive.
A few months ago, Jennifer Diaz rented a condo for her 64-year-old mother in Doral. She had heard there was a garbage dump nearby, but for the price, she thought it would be worth it. When she moved her mother in, neither of them expected to be next-door neighbors with “Mount Trashmore” — the Medley Landfill.
We all know Miami will be underwater sooner or later. But while some folks are plotting how to spend their Atlantean retirement down here, others are asking the all-important question: How much is it gonna cost?
During North Bay Village’s commission meeting Monday, commissioners in a 3-0 vote approved a ban on single-use plastic bags, utensils, and straws, joining nearby communities of Bal Harbour and Surfside in prohibiting most single-use plastics.
Nearly two months into the 2019 hurricane season, only two named storms have emerged: Subtropical Storm Andrea and Tropical Storm Barry. Today a smaller, unnamed weather system is moving along the coast of Florida.
A new scientific study links nitrogen to the mysterious disease killing Florida’s coral reefs.
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.
A judge nearly threw Carnival Corporation’s top executives in jail last April, after the company got caught dumping oily pollution into the sea despite being explicitly ordered by a court to stop doing so. Ultimately, the world’s largest cruise company pleaded guilty to probation violations and agreed to pay a $20 million fine earlier this month over the pollution dumps.
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.
