Photo courtesy of Phil’s 1stPix via Flickr.
By Victoria Hunt
Florida’s ecosystem is loved by many, but development and climate change put it under pressure.
As Florida’s population grows, urban development comes with it. To make room for infrastructure projects, wetlands, forests, and coastal habitats are being cleared.
After initially being rejected, a large development project was approved by Orange County commissioners in September 2026. The project will involve clearing roughly 230 acres of land near the Shingle Creek Preserve, including nearly 59 acres of wetlands.
The project plans to build more than 4,800 apartment units and nearly 1,300 hotel rooms on this land. Not only will this development threaten the wildlife living there, but damage to the watershed will affect areas beyond the site.
According to News 13, Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson said, “The idea of putting a gargantuan, really oversized development, whether it’s Tuscana or anything else, smack in the middle of that ecologically sensitive area, should alarm everybody.”
The Shingle Creek Basin is the northern headwaters of the Everglades. The Everglades carry water from the area near Lake Okeechobee down to the southern tip of the state, Florida Bay. This development project affects a much larger system than just the preserve.
Climate change is profoundly altering Earth’s ecosystems, but Florida is especially at risk. Climate change is causing an increasing rate in sea level rise, mostly due to the melting polar ice caps and thermal expansion of the warming ocean.
Florida sea level rise is further affected by freshwater ice melt in the arctic which slows the Gulf Stream. It is projected that by 2050 St. Petersburg will be over a foot higher than it was in 2020.
Sea level rise isn’t the only worry; the red tide could get much worse due to the warming planet. The red tide describes the harmful algal blooms that occur when algae grows out of control and produce toxins that harm fish, shellfish, marine mammals, birds, and even humans.
Climate change can cause an increase in algal blooms for a multitude of reasons. Because climate change causes rising sea levels and increased evaporation, it rains more frequently and algal blooms thrive from nutrients, like nitrogen, that they can get from stormwater runoff.
These nutrients are supplied by things like fertilizer, leaky septic systems, soil erosion, pet waste, etc. So more rain coming from heavy storms could worsen the runoff problem which feeds the harmful algal blooms.
Climate change causes warming ocean temperatures as well. Harmful algal blooms tend to favor higher temperatures because it increases metabolic rates and enzyme activity which speeds up photosynthesis, nutrient uptake, and cell division.
Dr. Patricia Glibert, a researcher with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, said “Longer, sustained blooms can be expected in future years if the current climate change trajectory continues,” after conducting a study on algal blooms in Florida.
As climate change and development continue to reshape Florida’s ecosystems, difficult choices made now will determine what the Sunshine State looks like for generations to come.