Greenerpalmbeach’s Weblog

  Florida is already feeling the early effects of global warming, with more severe impacts yet to come.

That’s the conclusion of an October 2001 scientific study published by NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council)  in conjunction with research scientists at Florida universities.

The study finds that the  far-reaching effects of global warming will transform Florida’s climate, coastline and treasured natural areas in ways that will profoundly affect the state’s economy and agriculture, as well as the health of its people. In short, global warming has the potential to affect everything that defines Florida today, and to alter the lives of many Floridians.

Transformation of the South Florida Landscape

William D. Solecki

Montclair State University

Robert T. Walker

Michigan State University

This chapter describes the relationship between expansion of the human system and changes in land use in the South Florida region of the United States. The actual study area comprises the seven southernmost counties in Florida: Broward, Collier, Dade, Hendry, Lee, Monroe, and Palm Beach (see Figure 10-1).

Human interventions in South Florida’s natural systems have been dramatic, with notable effects on the quality of life. Since 1900, 11,027 square kilometers of natural land in the study region have been shifted to agricultural and urban uses in connection with federal, state, and private efforts to provide drainage and flood control. This land represents about 41 percent of the total study area, which covers some 27,000 square kilometers.

The shifts in land use occurred in stages, beginning in the late nineteenth century. Historically, this chapter looks at five distinct periods: pre-1900, 1900–1930, 1930–1950, 1950–1970, and 1970 to the present. Each period is characterized by a different set of human–environment interactions, along with differing relationships among population growth, consumption, and land use change.

The interactions among these elements are examined in several ways. First, we look closely at the nature of the human–environment interactions within each period and the social and physical drivers effecting transformations in them (see Merchant, 1990—the general discussion of ecological transformations—and Solecki et al., 2000). Second, we illustrate how each time period set the stage for the next phase of development .

Palm Beach County Initiatives… Video: Pirates of the Loxahatchee – The Loxahatchee River and Its Water Quality (Approximately 4 minutes loading time DSL)Letter to the Army Corps of Engineers Regarding Development in Northwestern Palm Beach County — Concerned about the number of development proposals for the county’s rural lands, on April 3, 2006, 1000 Friends and others urged the Army Corps to conduct a coordinated review of the many proposals.