Each month, the UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute team curates Florida's environmental news with expert insight from scientists and researchers around the state. We hope you enjoy this month's sampling.

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Featured News

According to Climate Central, by 2050 sea levels in Florida are expected to rise by 13 inches. By 2060, that figure moves closer to 3 feet in some parts of Florida.

More frequent floods are inevitable, and higher waters threaten those cultural heritage sites, historic buildings, archaeological sites and traditions that preserve human history — collectively known as cultural resources. In Florida, think: the St. Augustine historic district, Native American burial grounds and longstanding fishing traditions.

How can we protect these cultural resources from climate change? Three University of Florida researchers weigh in. 

How do you protect yourself from skin cancer while minimizing your impact to corals and other marine life?

TESI coordinator & educator Sadie Mills chronicles her quest to find the best marine-safe sun protection in this month's Action of the Month.

Hint: It's complicated. 

Climate Responsibility & Natural Hazards

Experiments to understand how ecosystems might respond to climate change are difficult to perform because of the sheer scale of the problem.

But, scientists have found that volcanoes might be the perfect living laboratory for studying how climate change will affect tree physiology.

Cassie Freund, a Ph.D. student studying tropical forest ecology at Wake Forest University, explains in this story via Massive Science. 

The Caribbean Sea bordering Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach is a startling aquamarine color. Over 1,500 miles away, the Atlantic Ocean next to Coney Island is a dark bluish-green. And Bondi blue, the color of the original iMac computer, was named after the teal hue of the Tasman Sea off the coast of the eponymous Sydney beach.

Pollution isn’t to blame for these stark differences. As light bounces off and passes through water, it reflects the color blue back to our eyes, but microscopic algae and tiny sediments known as colored dissolved organic matter muddy the metaphorical waters and cause oceans to appear green, red, or brown.

Now, scientists are trying to use these microscopic sediments to help them better predict climate change.

Science journalist Madeline Bender explains in this post via Massive Science. 

Related news: 

• Erosion ‘very much’ a problem at St. Andrews State Park 
• Community Recovery Center still helping hurricane survivors 
• Downed Timber After Hurricane Michael Poses Ecological Risks 
• FSU Researchers Shed Light On Seaweed's Role In Trapping Blue Carbon 
• Jax Storm Resiliency Committee Calls For Drainage Improvements, Wetlands Protection 
• Hurricane Impact On Fish Spurs Emergency Order 
• U.S. Southeast Atlantic Coast Facing High Threat of Sea-Level Rise in Next 10 Years 
• Jupiter Inlet District to restore eroded island that’s a fraction of its historical size 
• Can mangroves save Miami’s coast from sea level rise? Experts say they could help 
• Hurricane Season 2019: Atlantic coast’s protective hurricane barrier is slowly eroding, study says 
• Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C could prevent thousands of deaths in the U.S. 
• The Southern Ocean may be less of a carbon sink than we thought 

Habitats & Biodiversity

If you’re feeling bad that you don’t have a putting-green-quality lawn or it’s just too hot out to mow this weekend, University of Florida scientists have some good news: The things you’ve been lamenting are great for bees and other pollinators.

Read why in this post by University of Florida News.

In an effort to make coral reefs more resilient to warming waters, scientists at Florida International University have been testing whether a heat-resistant partner algae native to Asia can successfully colonize Florida's corals.

Recent experiments show the introduction wasn't exactly love at first sight.

What does this mean for coral reef restoration and future research?

Florida is home to nearly 700 vertebrate and more than 30,000 invertebrate animal species. At the same time, 21.3 million people take up residence and 100 million tourists visit the state each year, making human-animal interaction inevitable.  

Sometimes, these interactions make headlines. Here are four Florida animals who have made the news this month. 

Related news: 

• FWC issues executive order suspending harvest and possession of shoal bass 
• ‘Zombie snake’ plays dead when threatened, but rarely bites humans 
• Make Way For Birds: Little Talbot Beachgoers Asked To Observe Closures, Limit Trash 
• Beaches tackle cigarette problem with ‘butt boxes’ 
• Soil pH Testing: What does it tell me? 
• To see how invasive predators change an ecosystem, watch their prey 
• Lab Mosquitoes Cut Wild Population By 75 Percent, South Miami Field Study Finds 
• New Study Finds Red Tide Lethal For Baby Stone Crabs 
• New DNA test stops illegal shipment of endangered eels 
• New Book Sounds Alarm About Invasive Plant Species Spreading Throughout Florida 
• USDA: Florida orange crop takes another dip 
• Portuguese man o' war washes up on Florida beaches 
• A ‘Noah’s Ark’ project for corals: Scientists race to save Florida Reef from killer disease 
• Collier leaders OK $5.5 million beach renourishment project; truck hauling to start this fall 

Healthy Waterways

Plastic is the most common form of debris found in the oceans, and is typically portrayed as large garbage patches floating on the surface, rotating slowly with the ocean currents. But now scientists have evidence that plastic debris is not just a surface problem.

Researchers from the University of California San Diego and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute recently sent an underwater robot 900 meters below the surface to take photos and videos and document the presence of marine debris. This was the first study to critically examine a section of the ocean from bottom to top for plastics. Their findings were grim.

TESI postdoctoral researcher Jen Bauer explains what this might mean for Florida.

Related news: 

• Florida may adopt limits on amount of toxins from blue-green algae blooms allowed in waterways
• Sargassum seaweed now piling up on Florida beaches becoming a regular ‘belt’ across Atlantic to Africa
• State Receives $60 Million For Tamiami Trail Project 
• If A Lake Could Sing, What Would It Sound Like? This Scientist Found The Answer In Big Data 
• New hopes raised to help dying Fort George River inlet 
• Lake Okeechobee toxin test raises concerns about fishing, swimming 
• This Year's Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Could Be One of the Biggest Ever, NOAA Says 
• Lawsuit Filed Over Florida’s Toxic Algae 
• State Funding To Flow For Florida Springs 
• Residents hope canal can become aquarium-like again 
• Economic Value of Florida Water Resources: Valuing the Quality of Water for Household Needs
• Watchdogs sue to prevent 'rollback' of post BP-spill offshore safety rules 

Earth Systems & the Economy

Scientists from the University of North Florida have received $462,500 from the Department of Agriculture’s Institute of Food Protection and Sustainability to study different types of switchgrass and their response to temperature. That way, once the plant can be used as an alternative fuel, UNF researchers will be able to identify the best places to grow it. 

Learn more in this story by the Florida Times-Union.

Related news: 

• Biotech Executive Order Vital for U.S. Agriculture-Industry Reaction 
• Feds Give $480M To Florida Timber Industry After Hurricane 
• Searching for a cleaner way to mimic Mother Nature 
• FPL preaches major solar expansion. But only under its control, documents show 

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