Nearly two decades into an expensive rescue plan, questions are raised about whether Florida's depleted Everglades can ever be salvaged. Read the final part of AP's WhatCanBeSaved series:
FLAMINGO, Florida — Grabbing a clump of vegetation to steady herself, Tiffany Troxler gingerly slides her feet along the makeshift boardwalk as she ventures out into the marsh. The boards sag, dipping her up to her knees in the tea-colored water.
Formed roughly 5,000 years ago, during a time of sea level rise, the Everglades once comprised an area twice the size of New Jersey. What survives is not so much a natural ecosystem, but a remnant, heavily dependent on — and at the mercy of — a network of more than 2,100 miles of canals, 2,000 miles of levees and hundreds of floodgates, pump stations and other water-control structures.What Can Be Saved
And so when Florida became a state in 1845, one of the Legislature’s first acts was to pass a resolution asking Congress to survey the “wholly valueless” Everglades “with a view to their reclamation.” “Water that once ran wild. Water that ruined the rich terrain. Water that took lives and land. Put disaster in the headlines and death upon the soil. Now, it just waits there. Calm, peaceful. Ready to do the bidding of man and his machines.”
“We’re starting to see the vegetation respond, and we’re getting more of those marsh grasses, more of those open water sloughs,” says Stephen Davis, senior ecologist with the Everglades Foundation. “I’m very confident that we can restore this ecosystem. And by restoration, I mean enhancing the functionality of what remains.
“At this pace of restoration, it is even more imperative that agencies anticipate and design for the Everglades of the future,” they wrote.There are more than 360 species of birds, including the great blue heron and the diminutive green variety, purple gallinules and roseate spoonbills, the white ibis and the black skimmer. It is said to be the only place in the world where freshwater alligators and saltwater crocodiles co-exist.
Scientists suspect the python is responsible for the disappearance of up to 99 percent of the marsh rabbits, raccoons and other small mammals in the national park. “There’s a snake moving here,” Easterling replies. Diving into the undergrowth, Bartoszek does a double-take: “Hold on a second. … There might be two pythons!”After catching their breath, he and Easterling plunge their heads into the thicket, where the fat reptile is coiled up — and staring right at Easterling. “Hi!” he says. “Don’t strike out!”
In the past six years, the conservancy team has removed more than 500 pythons with a combined weight of about 13,000 pounds from a 50-mile-square area. Despite that success, Bartoszek thinks that total eradication of the Burmese python “is off the table.” “Overall, the Florida Everglades is struggling to survive in the face of sustained pressure from human activities and the increasing impacts of climate change,” the group wrote. “The poor to fair scores reflected in the report card indicate that the region’s ecosystems are degraded and the anticipated ecological benefits of restoration are still to be realized.”Some adaptation is taking place.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
The Woman Who Challenged Morocco’s Tourism Industry For Women’s Rights—And WonHow one woman fought the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism to issue new tour guide licenses to women—for the first time in a decade.
Leer más »
The climate issue newsletterSign up to the The Climate Issue: The best of our climate-change coverage, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
Leer más »
Pelosi to climate conference: 'We're still in' Paris agreementPresident Trump made his decision official last month to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate pact, but House Speaker Nancy Pelsoi says 'The United States is still in'
Leer más »
At COP25, policymakers will try to lay plans for a global carbon marketMore co-ordination between the world’s carbon markets would be welcome
Leer más »
United Nations opens two-week climate change summit in MadridThe United Nations opened a two-week climate summit in Madrid on Monday, where w...
Leer más »
Climate change forces 1 person from their home every 2 seconds, report findsClimate-fueled disasters have forced 20 million people—or one person every two seconds—from their homes every year for the last decade, according to a new global report.
Leer más »