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"The Florida landscape has long been shaped by fire. For thousands of years, lightning scorched trees - burning patches of land, unimpeded by homes and roads. It was so regular that multiple ecosystems evolved alongside fire to maintain a healthy balance of flora and fauna. Take the Florida scrub for example. Maybe you’ve taken a walk through a well-preserved scrub. If you have, you’ll remember. The ancient dunes are blazing hot and dry, carrying only the memory of the ocean they were once surrounded by. Without a tree canopy for shade, the sun reflects up off the patches of sand, baking your skin and leaving you wishing for a breeze. It’s a brutal place where only the toughest, most adaptable, survive. Sounds very appropriate for a habitat in Florida."
"Imagine if the entire Redwood Forest was burning down. An ecological calamity of that magnitude has been happening in our backyard since 2014. Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease [SCTLD] is killing 22 species of stony corals in the Florida Reef Tract, with a mortality rate of almost 100%. The Florida Reef provides $8.5 billion in annual tourism revenue through fishing, snorkeling and scuba diving. It is home to innumerable sea animals. But what you may not know, is that the reef also provides invaluable storm surge protection to the east coast of Florida by buffering wave energy..."
"Storytelling is a difficult art form to master, and even good storytelling is diluted in the massive pool of podcasts available. There are an astounding 720,000 podcast series for listeners to choose from. Trying to find something with the right balance of entertainment and information is enough to make a listener throw out their headphones. Somewhere in the podcast jumble, I discovered “Welcome to Florida”, hosted by Craig Pittman and Chadd Scott..."
"Look at any map of the Earth and the state of Florida is easy to identify. With her unique peninsular geography, Florida sticks out. What makes Florida easy to see on a map, also makes it difficult for animals to migrate for food or to avoid danger. Hemmed in by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Gulf of Mexico on the west, after hitting the coast, animals can only travel north or south, unless they have wings. Staying alive in an ever-changing landscape requires moving to wherever there is food..."
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