its hard to believe how much death was caused in Fl. by the cold weather

[ensho]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1467199.html


Cold took heavy toll on Florida wildlife

January's cold took a heavy toll on Everglades plants and animals. In the case of the pythons, that's a good thing.


Despite four decades of slogging through Everglades marshes and mangroves, wildlife ecologist Frank Mazzotti had never experienced anything like the aftermath of frigid January. The confirmed casualty count so far:

• At least 70 dead crocodiles.

• More than 60 manatee carcasses.

• A bright-side observance of multiple frozen-stiff Burmese pythons, the scourge of the Everglades.

And also, perhaps the biggest fish kill in modern Florida history.

``What we witnessed was a major ecological disturbance event equal to a fire or a hurricane,'' said Mazzotti, a University of Florida associate professor. ``A lot of things have happened that nobody has seen before in Florida.''

-snip-

While scientists are still surveying losses, it's already clear that the record chill wiped out shallow corals in the Keys and devastated manatees. A preliminary assessment that Everglades National Park scientists completed last week also documented a broad and heavy toll on everything from crocodiles to cocoplums to butterflies.

-snip-

A record number of endangered manatees died from cold stress, most of them -- more than 60 -- found in park waters stretching into the Ten Thousand Islands on the Southwest Coast. More than 70 carcasses of North American crocodile were counted, a significant hit to a species removed from the endangered list only three years ago.

About 40 species of pineland plants suffered varying degrees of frost damage. On some tree island, cocoplums looked like they were burned. Half of the population of a caterpillar that morphs into the exceedingly rare Florida leafwing butterfly died.

-snip-

Then there were the literally countless dead fish -- from tiny pilchards to large snook and tarpon.
-snip-
---------------------------------

climate change is so much fun. the neo cons love it.

[monmouth]

1. Temps are expected to go down to 30 degrees tonight. Very cold for us...n/t

[Solly Mack]

2. :(

k/r

[-wulf-]

3. Homeless

Second or third thread about animals suffering from cold, but no mention of homeless deaths or suffering.

Interesting.

[RockaFowler]

4. Ok I'll respond

The animals don't have a place to go. There have been a lot of shelters open in this area during the cold snap. Now, the animals in question aren't used to this weather at all. This is not the norm for South Florida, so many animals cannot fend for themselves.

[LanternWaste]

8. The one does not deny the other. Nor is either predicated on the other.

The one does not deny the other. Nor is either predicated on the other.



I would imagine that should you yourself choose to start a thread about the suffering of America's homeless, there would be no mention of dead pythons or frozen alligators.

Interesting, yes...?

[jxnmsdemguy65]

5. apparantly there were many cold related deaths of humans in Cuba..

like at a nursing home where patients were accidentally exposed to cold. Folks there are just not accustomed to dealing with temps below the 40s or even 50s. Anybody know of other effects of the cold in Cuba?

[ensho]

6. thanks for info - didn't know about the Cuba deaths

nt

[LiberalFighter]

7. I would hope that death of over abundance alligators would be good.

And critters not native to Florida would be good too.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

9. I heard this story on NPR this am and I'm pretty sure they

crocs were endangered

[LiberalFighter]

10. From what I watched on Animal Planet with the alligators in Florida

they appeared to be in abundance based on statements I heard.

But from endangered specie site it appears both alligators and crocodiles are on the list.

I guess they need to manage the human population better down there instead.