On April 26 and 27th, I attended the Environmental Summit in Sarasota, FL held by the Science and Environmental Council of Sarasota and Manatee Counties. It was a great opportunity to learn about environmental causes in this area, mostly related to the critical estuaries in the Tampa and Sarasota area. There were great speakers and panels relating to science communication, civic engagement, climate change and sea level rise, and National Estuary Programs.
One of the big take-aways from the summit was that Florida is a rapidly growing state, with ~1000 people moving to the state every day! The challenges of dealing with an expanding population while being stewards of the land and water are real and omnipresent. Considering one of the big draws to Florida is its environmental beauty--its beaches, fishing and wildlife, and ecotourism--it is in the interest of both economy and the environment to protect its valuable natural resources. Meanwhile, the effects of climate change are already showing consequences in this wetland and coastal state--the frequency of nuisance flooding has risen about 300% in recent years with more severe rainfall events. Tropical diseases and tick-borne diseases have expanded into areas like Florida where they haven't been previously seen, due to higher temperatures. Sea level rise is several inches in some part of the estuary. Exotic and invasive species have expanded their ranges north and appear in central Florida such as the iguana. Ocean acidification is already killing off coral reefs by causing disintegration of the fragile calcium carbonate that makes up corals, and the shells of many marine organisms. Many of the Florida keys reefs are a mere fraction of what they used to be, with a fraction of the diversity in marine wildlife that depend on reefs for food and habitat remaining as well.
I also learned more about the amazing wildlife in this area--like that Sarasota Bay has a bottlenose dolphin population of about 170 dolphins that have monitored and studied since the 1970's and are great indicators of ecosystem health. Sea grasses are a critical resource and component of estuary ecosystems that have been a focus of the Tampa and Sarasota Bay estuary programs, with huge success in the Tampa Bay program especially, restoring sea grasses to about 1950's levels. Seagrasses support about double the diversity and abundance of fish compared to areas without seagrass, and are an important food source for other animals like manatees and sea turtles. Sea grass also sequesters carbon dioxide and can therefore minimize ocean acidification caused by excess carbon dioxide emissions.
There was a networking reception at the breathtaking Ringling mansion in Sarasota with views of the Bay.
