Waterfront homes could take on a whole new look in the Lower Keys over the next three decades if projections about sea level rise come to pass.
The fact that sea levels are rising and encroaching on shorelines is not in dispute, claims Chris Bergh, Florida Keys program manager for The Nature Conservancy, a lading national environmental advocacy group.
Bergh has spent the better part of the last two years compiling a study of the environmental and economic impacts of sea level rise focused on Big Pine Key as the largest land mass in the Lower Keys and home to a multitude of endangered species, both flora and fauna.
According to projections, sea level could rise as little as three inches in the next 20 years or as much as nine inches. Neither bodes well for Big Pine.
A rise as slight as three inches changes coastal plant habitats, salt marsh areas and tidal basin ecologies, with nine inches doing more damage.
Continue reading ‘Sea level rise could cost islands land, $$’
Managers see little change in Key Deer herd
Status quo is the operative word this summer for the endangered Key Deer.
“Very little has changed in the make up of the deer herd over the last year,” said Philip Hughes, a biologist with the ecological services division of US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Continue reading ‘Managers see little change in Key Deer herd’
Planners want more time on revised sign ordinance
Proposed changes to the county’s sign rules will wait at least another two weeks for planning commission blessing.
Continue reading ‘Planners want more time on revised sign ordinance’
We get very few weekends to call our own because of the nature of what we do. Usually, in order to get a weekend, we have to ignore some things we just don’t want to, but need to so we can have a weekend.
Wow, say that three times fast, and then think about it. Headache time.
But last weekend, for Father’s Day, Holly made a deal to get me in the Cudjoe Gardens Dolphin Tournament.
Report was great until conclusions
Last week, representatives from climate change advocates and the Nature Conservancy presented a report to the Board of County Commissioners that was relatively bleak in its outlook.
The report estimates seven to 51 inches of sea level rise in the Florida Keys by the year 2100.
