Environment

Green technologies for integrating stormwater management

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As Broward has become built-out, urban densification and redevelopment activities have made innovative strategies to providing stormwater management increasingly necessary. These new approaches, often referred to as green techniques, help mimic natural processes and integrate stormwater management within the landscape to create multi-functional site designs.

These green technologies divert stormwater from traditional storm sewer systems to areas where it can be absorbed and treated by the soil and native vegetation. Designed to retain and treat water on site, these green technologies create water resource benefits that include enhanced aquifer recharge and stormwater recycling.?

Green technologies for integrating stormwater management on urban/suburban single-family home sites:

  • Naturescape with native vegetation to reduce water and fertilizer use
  • Cisterns/Rain Barrels
  • Rain Gardens
  • Bioretention
  • Bioswales
  • Stormwater Wetlands
  • Green Roofs
  • Permeable Pavements

Read more:
https://www.broward.org/waterresources/Pages/GreenInfrastructure.aspx

The end of Florida orange juice?

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The end of Florida orange juice? A lethal disease is devastating the state’s citrus industry

By Darryl Fears, Washington Post

The citrus industry is fighting to find a cure for a disease that is caused by the Asian citrus psyllid, an insect, that carries the bacterium huang long bing from tree to tree. There is no known cure for the disease that forms when the insect deposits the bacterium on citrus trees, causing the leaves on the tree to turn yellow, the roots to decay and bitter fruits fall off the dying branches prematurely.

Read the complete article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/11/09/end-florida-orange-juice-lethal-disease-is-decimating-its-citrus-industry/

FWC – Red Tide Mid-Week Update for November 6, 2019

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Red Tide Mid-Week Update for November 6, 2019

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission sent this bulletin at 11/06/2019 04:00 PM EST

Current Conditions
A bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was observed in Southwest Florida over the past week in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. Additional details are provided below.

  • In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to very low concentrations in and/or offshore of Pinellas County, background to high concentrations in Sarasota County, low to high concentrations in Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in and/or offshore of Lee County, and background to high concentrations in and/or offshore of Collier County. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells per liter) persist in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. Two samples from Sarasota County, one sample from Charlotte County, 25 samples from and offshore of Lee County, and three samples from Collier County contained high concentrations of K. brevis (>1 million cells per liter).
  • In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
  • Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.

For more information, visit:

https://myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide/

New Zealand Has Plan To Plant One Billion Trees By 2028

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The One Billion Trees Programme is how the government of New Zealand plans to plant one billion trees by 2028. The overall objective, apart from more trees, is to deliver improved social, environmental, and economic outcomes for the country, in addition to playing a significant role in moving towards a low emissions economy.

New Zealand Has Plan To Plant One Billion Trees By 2028

Oil Hunt Damages Everglades’ Big Cypress National Preserve

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Natural Resources Defense Council
Jun. 07, 2018 12:12PM EST

New oil development has no place in sensitive wetland habitats in the Florida Everglades. The Burnett Oil Company, based in Texas, claimed it could explore for oil in the Big Cypress National Preserve with no significant, long-term impacts to sensitive wetlands. But these claims have been refuted, as Burnett Oil has caused significant damage.

Read the article along with the sad images of the destruction
https://www.ecowatch.com/everglades-oil-development-nrdc-2576012062.html

10 Things the Department of Defense Needs to Include in Their New Climate Change Report

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After a dearth of action on climate change and a record year of extreme events in 2017, the inclusion of climate change policies within the annual legislation Congress considers to outline its defense spending priorities (the National Defense Authorization Act) for fiscal year 2018 was welcome progress.

Read the article: https://www.ecowatch.com/defense-department-climate-change-ucs-2629054045.html

 

 

Appeals court clears way for landowner to drill exploratory oil well in Everglades

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This is terrible news!

TALLAHASSEE — Overturning a decision by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, an appeals court Tuesday ordered the state to issue a permit to a major Broward County landowner who wants to drill an exploratory oil well in the Everglades.

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled the department improperly rejected a recommended order by an administrative law judge, who said in 2017 a permit should be approved for Kanter Real Estate LLC.

Read the complete article:

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/florida/2019/02/05/appeals-court-clears-way-drilling-exploratory-oil-well-everglades/2777314002/

Kanter Real Estate, LLC v. Department of Environmental Protection, City of Miramar, and Broward County, Florida, 17-5096 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019)
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4587389/kanter-real-estate-llc-v-department-of-environmental-protection-city-of/

New Hunt For Oil In Florida Raises Environmental Concerns

 

Hurricane Michael Is Close to Catastrophic

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Hurricane Michael is close to a catastrophic, unprecedented Category 4 strike on the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend with a life-threatening storm surge and over 100 mph winds possible not just near the coast, but also inland that could leave some areas without power for over a week.

Photo by: The NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)

Read on… https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2018-10-10-hurricane-michael-cat4-historic-landfall-gulf-coast-florida

12 Reasons Bicycling Will Continue to Soar in Popularity

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For too long biking has been viewed skeptically as a white-people thing, a big city thing, an ultra-fit athlete thing, a twenty-something thing, a warm weather thing or an upper-middle-class thing. And above all else, it’s seen as a guy thing.

But guess what? The times, they are a-changin’. More than 100 million Americans rode a bike in 2014, and bicycles have out-sold cars most years in the U.S. since 2003.

Read more… https://www.ecowatch.com/bicycling-soar-popularity-2515406297.html

 

Renewable Energy Isn’t Perfect, But It’s Far Better Than Fossil Fuels

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In their efforts to discredit renewable energy and support continued fossil fuel burning, many anti-environmentalists have circulated a dual image purporting to compare a lithium mine with an oil sands operation. It illustrates the level of dishonesty to which some will stoop to keep us on our current polluting, climate-disrupting path (although in some cases it could be ignorance).

Read more: https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy-suzuki-2514182227.html

 

Lobster With Pepsi Logo ‘Tattoo’ Embodies Fears About Ocean Waste

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It’s safe to say that lobsters aren’t a budding new demographic for soda companies.

So why did a lobster recently caught in the waters off Grand Manan, New Brunswick, have part of a Pepsi logo tattooed on its claw?

That’s a question that baffled Karissa Lindstrand, the fisherman who spotted the uncanny image during a lobster haul, according to the Guardian. Lindstrand happens to drink up to a dozen Pepsi sodas a day, but she was struck by the image’s unusual dimensions.

Read more: https://www.ecowatch.com/animals-plastic-waste-2514046242.html

 

 

7 Reasons Drinking Coffee Isn’t as Bad as You Might Think

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There’s nothing quite like a cup of coffee in the morning. Whether it’s from your local shop, brewed at home or snagged from a tiny cart somewhere, people all over the world start and their days with the centuries-old psychoactive beverage.

And aside from being a the only thing that can drag some of us out of bed on tough mornings, there are actually some more significant reasons—including health, economic and more—why it’s a good way to start your day.

Read more: https://www.ecowatch.com/drinking-coffee-2514850647.html