ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION BRINGS NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
by Todd Z . Osborne , PhD Associate Professor , Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience , University of Florida
There has never been a time in which the demands on coastal resources have been higher than they are today . More than 1,000 people a day make Florida their new home , a trend that did not decline during the COVID-19 crisis and one that does not appear to be changing anytime soon . With a constant influx of additional residents , many of whom desire to live on the coast , there are tremendous stresses exerted on both our coastal ecosystems and the human-built infrastructure that supports significant population centers there . As Florida ’ s picturesque coasts have been a dominant draw for both tourism and immigration for decades , it ’ s no secret that our coastal communities define the Florida lifestyle . Except for Orlando , our largest cities follow the coast . To illustrate this , just look at a map and follow the coast from Jacksonville on the northeast Atlantic coast south to Miami , around the Keys , up the Gulf Coast through Tampa and around the panhandle to Pensacola . With more than 1,350 miles of coastline , is there any doubt that Florida is a coastal state , and as such , our beautiful and diverse coasts are critical to the state economy ?
As we grow both our coastal communities and the economies they support , the continual influx of people ( both residents and visitors alike ) support additional development , and , therefore more pressure on natural resources to attenuate or absorb the effects of our activities . Unfortunately , our coastal ecosystems are on the receiving end of our wastewater ,
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