Subscribe Now

El Nino years correspond to higher temperatures and above average rainfall in the Southeastern U.S. If this increased rainfall comes in frequent and steady showers instead of a few strong storms, then conditions for mosquito breeding are ideal. Yellow Fever, which has been eliminated in the U.S. due to mosquito control efforts and a vaccine, [...]

The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, or the cyclical movement of heat in the tropical Pacific Ocean, influences annual rainfall amounts on Florida’s Gulf Coast. In Tampa Bay, seven out of ten strong El Nino years are years when wintertime rainfall is above average. In the Lakeland/Fort Myers area, winters with above average rainfall [...]

Over the last 40 years in the eastern U.S., there has been an increase in the frequency during warm months of 30-day periods when there is no rain. These dry spells now occur about twice as often as they did in the 1960′s. Rainfall events push water through municipal sewer and storm water systems. During [...]

A warmer atmosphere results in an amplification of the water cycle. Some areas of the world are net importers of rainfall (such as tropical rainforests), while some are net exporters (such as oceans around the tropics). The “amplification” of the cycle means that dry regions become drier, and wet regions become wetter. During the 20th [...]

A warmer atmosphere results in an amplification of the water cycle. Some areas of the world are net importers of rainfall (such as tropical rainforests), while some are net exporters (such as oceans around the tropics). The “amplification” of the cycle means that dry regions become drier, and wet regions become wetter. During the 20th [...]

Since 1910, overall precipitation in the lower 48 states has increased by ten percent, and the region with the largest increase in rainfall is the Mississippi River Basin. Because of fertilizer use on farms, lawns, and gardens in the Basin, wet years mean that more nitrogen (an ingredient in fertilizer) is carried with rainwater into [...]

A warmer atmosphere results in an amplification of the water cycle. Some areas of the world are net importers of rainfall (such as tropical rainforests), while some are net exporters (such as oceans around the tropics). The “amplification” of the cycle means that dry regions become drier, and wet regions become wetter. During the 20th [...]

A warmer atmosphere results in an amplification of the water cycle. Some areas of the world are net importers of rainfall (such as tropical rainforests), while some are net exporters (such as oceans around the tropics). The “amplification” of the cycle means that dry regions become drier, and wet regions become wetter. During the 20th [...]

A warmer atmosphere results in an amplification of the water cycle. Some areas of the world are net importers of rainfall (such as tropical rainforests), while some are net exporters (such as oceans around the tropics). The “amplification” of the cycle means that dry regions become drier, and wet regions become wetter. During the 20th [...]

A warmer atmosphere results in an amplification” of the water cycle. Some areas of the world are net importers of rainfall (such as tropical rainforests), while some are net exporters (such as oceans around the tropics). The “amplification” of the cycle means that dry regions become drier, and wet regions become wetter. During the 20th [...]

A warmer atmosphere results in an amplification of the water cycle. Some areas of the world are net importers of rainfall (such as tropical rainforests), while some are net exporters (such as oceans around the tropics). The “amplification” of the cycle means that dry regions become drier, and wet regions become wetter. During the 20th [...]

Just seaward of the Florida keys lies a 130 mile long coral reef that extends from Miami to the Dry Tortugas. This reef provides habitat for over 5,500 marine species and buffers Florida and the Keys from storm surges. A combination of rising ocean temperatures, increases in ocean acidity, and runoff from farms and developments, [...]

Is it possible for droughts to become more common even if annual rainfall amounts increase. Overall annual precipitation in the lower 48 states has been increasing since the early 20th century, and since the 1970s it has been increasing in the Eastern United States by about one-inch per decade. Over the last forty years, this [...]

One of the most important properties of water is that it is the most universal solvent. It is able to dissolve more substances than any other liquid. Unfortunately, this property means that water can carry many pollutans into ocean waters – oil, pesticides, fertilizers, pet wastes, and others. These pollutants can harm ocean ecosystems, close [...]

The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is a 65-year cycle during which sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic alternate between warm (positive) and cool (negative) phases. The effects of this Oscillation are felt around the World. For example, the Mississippi River Basin has ten percent more water flowing through it when he AMO is at its [...]

Though there are many different types of wetlands, all wetlands have three things in common. Both freshwater wetlands, such as Cypress swamps, and saltwater wetlands, such as saltwater marshes and mangrove swamps, are found in the Gulf states. All wetlands have three physical characteristics in common: water, hydric soil, and hydrophytes. Wetlands are saturated or [...]

Over the course of 100 years, an average water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, 2 weeks in lakes and rivers, and just less than one week in the atmosphere! Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter (Source: The Superior Waters Project. “Freshwater Facts”. 2006. Available at: http://wildernessclassroom.com/superior/2006/07/freshwater_facts.html.)

High winds and heavy rains can allow non-native animals to escape captivity. In Louisiana, the nutria, an invasive marsh rat that eats important marsh grasses, is thought to have been set loose during past hurricanes. Seasons: Summer, Fall (Source: Lousiana State University, Center for the Study of Public Health Impacts of Hurricanes. “Louisiana Coastal Issues: [...]

Erosion is a normal occurrence on any coastal shoreline, but because of the loss of wetlands and other natural guards against erosion, it now poses a risk to homes and coastal communities. In the past, most techniques used to stabilize coastal erosion included the construction of hard structures, such as seawalls and bulkheads, but scientists [...]

Since the 1950′s, when Tampa Bay Watershed’s population really began to boom, about half of the Bay’s marshes and 40 percent of its sea grass beds have disappeared. Marshes and underwater grasses provide vital habitat for aquatic wildlife, help to buffer coasts from storms and help to protect water quality in marine, estuary and freshwater [...]