florida

Amid news of a Zika outbreak in the Miami area, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM) has cleared the experimental release of genetically modified (GMO) mosquitoes in the Florida Keys to help combat the virus. The agency also concluded that the proposed field trial “will not have significant impacts on […]

By Karen Chapman For a month now, South Florida Atlantic beaches have been blanketed by a sickly green, toxic algae sludge that has kept tourists away and businesses reeling. Florida has a bigger headache this summer than most states, but algae blooms are hardly unique. Last week, more than 100 people were sickened by toxic […]

An illness that might be linked to toxic algae blooms combined with a record number of boat collisions has taken a toll on Florida’s manatee population this summer. Since May, eight dead manatees have been found in the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County, a waterway that’s been fouled with microscopic toxic algae, the Orlando […]

Four Florida residents have been infected with Zika in the first known case of local transmission of the virus in the continental U.S., according to health officials. female Aedes aegypti mosquitoJames Gathany/CDC, 2006 A new study shows that climate change is increasing the length of mosquito season in the U.S. thus increasing the risk of […]

Florida regulators voted to approve new water quality standards that would increase the amount of carcinogenic toxins allowed in Florida’s waterways. The Environmental Regulation Commission voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve a proposal by state regulators that would set new standards on 39 chemicals not currently regulated by the Sunshine State and revise regulations on 43 […]

Stop and smell the roses or grab some food or chat with locals on the nation’s longest greenway. Soon, traveling from Florida to Maine and back won’t require a car. The East Coast Greenway will stretch from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida, a 2,900-mile distance. The project will provide non-motorized users a unique way […]

It’s only the half-way point of sea turtle nesting season in Florida, and some beaches are already breaking records. Mote’s Sea Turtle Patrol, a group of volunteers and scientists that monitor nests on Florida beaches between May 1 and Oct. 31, report this year has already seen 2,638 nests, some of which are beginning to […]

It’s as thick as guacamole, but you don’t want it near your chips. You don’t want it in your water, either, but that’s exactly where it is, a sprawling mat of toxic algae the size of Miami, spreading out across Florida’s storied Lake Okeechobee and from there along major rivers to the state’s Atlantic and […]