Florida Bay’s Algae Bloom is Just Latest Environmental Disaster
15 Oct
The Tamiami Trail was finished in 1928, and environmentalists have been trying to undo the damage ever since. Trailblazers exhibit, courtesy of Jonathan Ullman.
Florida Bay, the body of water between the Everglades and the Keys that was once teeming with wildlife, may be on the verge of collapse. Last week, scientists reported that miles of sea grass have died in the bay in recent months, leaving behind a stinky smell and a cloud of yellow sulfide. The die-off is likely to be the start of a larger “toxic algae bloom,” which could bring disastrous effects to one of South Florida’s greatest environmental treasures.
The truth is that Florida Bay’s latest catastrophe is just the latest in a long list of environmental disasters that have plagued South Florida over the last 90 years, ever since engineers and businessmen began to cut off the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay to construct the 76-mile Tamiami Trail — the road that runs from Miami to Naples. The effects of a blocked water flow have been heightened in recent years due to climate change.
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