Everglades Flooding

5 Pages 1261 Words

Florida's Dying Natural Wonder
Perhaps we take it for granted that our beautiful homeland will be forever changed because of the effects of modern civilizations. The environment, local animals, plants, and neighboring niches are all being affected by a few factors. The insensitivity of humans towards our fellow living creatures has caused the Everglades to shrink dramatically in the last one hundred years. The health of the everglades has been compromised because we as humans need more space to live on, bigger roads, and adventures on which we embark. In the following paragraphs, I will explain one of the most threatening factors to Florida's Everglades, habitat loss.
Originally, the Everglades consisted of nearly 8,100 square miles, now, it has been reduced to about 2,300 square miles of which about three-fifths is in set-designated water conservation areas. Two-thirds of the original everglades is the water that falls on one-thirds of the original watershed. In simpler terms, the water in the Everglades is being washed into the ocean at a faster rate than the animal and plant life can adapt to. If this problem continues on the same route it is on, the death toll of animals and plants will reach catastrophic proportions.
Many years ago, the Everglades was much deeper than it is now and the wet season lasted many months. Now, huge amounts of water come in short intervals and are dried up more quickly than it can be replaced due to drainage. Grasses who survive in deep water are being killed rapidly. Due to the death of these grasses, several species of fish have decreased dramatically in number. The loss of these grasses allows the melalueca to dominate these areas as the supreme species of plants. Fourteen animal species in the everglades are endangered and many more are threatened.
The loss of habitat and overcrowding of certain species are disturbing animal population. Since the 1900's, ninety percent of the bird population ha...