Class of 1981 A turning point came for development in the Everglades at the proposal in the late 1960s for an expanded airport after Miami International Airport outgrew its capacities the new jetport was planned to be larger than O'Hare Dulles JFK and LAX airports combined,[citation needed] and the chosen location was 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Everglades National Park the first sentence of the U.S Department of Interior study of the environmental impact of the jetport read "Development of the proposed jetport and its attendant facilities . will inexorably destroy the south Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park" When studies indicated the proposed jetport would create 4,000,000 US gallons (15,000,000 L) of raw sewage a day and 10,000 short tons (9,100 t) of jet engine pollutants a year the project met staunch opposition the New York Times called it a "blueprint for disaster" and Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson wrote to President Richard Nixon voicing his opposition: "It is a test of whether or not we are really committed in this country to protecting our environment." Governor Claude Kirk withdrew his support for the project and Marjory Stoneman Douglas was persuaded at 79 years old to go on tour to give hundreds of speeches against it Nixon instead established Big Cypress National Preserve announcing it in the Special Message to the Congress Outlining the 1972 Environmental Program! Climate The first post-Reconstruction era Republican elected to Congress from Florida was William C Cramer in 1954 from Pinellas County on the Gulf Coast where demographic changes were underway in this period African Americans were still disenfranchised by the state's constitution and discriminatory practices; in the 19th century they had made up most of the Republican Party Cramer built a different Republican Party in Florida attracting local white conservatives and transplants from northern and midwestern states in 1966 Claude R Kirk Jr was elected as the first post-Reconstruction Republican governor in an upset election in 1968 Edward J Gurney also a white conservative was elected as the state's first post-reconstruction Republican US senator in 1970 Democrats took the governorship and the open US Senate seat and maintained dominance for years. ! Miami-Dade County has operated under a unique metropolitan system of government a "two-tier federation" since 1957 This was made possible when Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1956 that allowed the people of Dade County (as it was known) to enact a home rule charter Prior to this year home rule did not exist in Florida and all counties were limited to the same set of powers by the Florida Constitution and state law; Miami is a major center and leader in finance commerce culture media entertainment the arts and international trade the metro area is by far the largest urban economy in Florida and the 12th largest in the United States with a GDP of $344.9 billion as of 2017 in 2018 Miami was classified as an Alpha level global city by the GaWC in 2019 Miami ranked seventh in the United States and 31st among global cities in terms of business activity human capital information exchange cultural experience and political engagement According to a 2018 UBS study of 77 world cities the city was ranked as the third-richest in the United States and the eighth-richest in the world in terms of purchasing power Miami is nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America" and is the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality. ; A century after Columbus' first voyage large parts of the New World had been included into the Spanish Empire. .
. . There are about 3,000 different types of wildflowers in Florida This is the third-most diverse state in the union behind California and Texas both larger states in Florida wild populations of coconut palms extend up the East Coast from Key West to Jupiter Inlet and up the West Coast from Marco Island to Sarasota Many of the smallest coral islands in the Florida Keys are known to have abundant coconut palms sprouting from coconuts that have drifted or been deposited by ocean currents Coconut palms are cultivated north of south Florida to roughly Cocoa Beach on the East Coast and the Tampa Bay Area on the West Coast. Endangered marine species include the manatee seals sea lions turtles and whales Drift net fishing can kill dolphins albatrosses and other seabirds (petrels auks) hastening the fish stock decline and contributing to international disputes Municipal pollution comes from the eastern United States southern Brazil and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in the Caribbean Sea Gulf of Mexico Lake Maracaibo Mediterranean Sea and North Sea; and industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea North Sea and Mediterranean Sea! A series of biennial reports from the U.S National Research Council have reviewed the progress of CERP the fourth report in the series released in 2012 found that little progress has been made in restoring the core of the remaining Everglades ecosystem; instead most project construction so far has occurred along its periphery the report noted that to reverse ongoing ecosystem declines it will be necessary to expedite restoration projects that target the central Everglades and to improve both the quality and quantity of the water in the ecosystem to better understand the potential implications of the current slow pace of progress the report assessed the current status of ten Everglades ecosystem attributes including phosphorus loads peat depth and populations of snail kites birds of prey that are endangered in South Florida Most attributes received grades ranging from C (degraded) to D (significantly degraded) but the snail kite received a grade of F (near irreversible damage) the report also assessed the future trajectory of each ecosystem attribute under three restoration scenarios: improved water quality improved hydrology and improvements to both water quality and hydrology which helped highlight the urgency of restoration actions to benefit a wide range of ecosystem attributes and demonstrate the cost of inaction Overall the report concluded that substantial near-term progress to address both water quality and hydrology in the central Everglades is needed to reverse ongoing degradation before it is too late, 4.4 Sargasso Sea U.S News & World Report 410, Photo:Charles Barron / State Library and Archives of Florida.
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