Alan Halaly

Brent Smith looks through a microscope at Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary at ghost orchids up in the cypress trees.

A rare wild flower is the star of the Florida swamp. But can the ghost orchid survive?

Alan Halaly

A coalition of environmental groups have filed paperwork threatening to sue the federal government for not moving quickly enough to protect the few ghost orchids that remain — an estimated 1,500.

Some 60 fish kills have been reported along the length of the Florida Keys this summer. Scorching sea surface temperatures that reduce oxygen levels are to blame. Though they have mainy hit small fish in the shallows, scientists and fishing guides fear increasing temperatures could bring far worse ones this summer. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Environment

String of small fish kills along Florida Keys ring more hot water alarms. Is seagrass next?

Alan Halaly

A month-long string of fish kills are affecting shallow waters that run the length of the island chain, from Key Largo to Key West. Researchers blame soaring sea surface temperatures off the southern coast of Florida that have at at time approached 100 degrees and are running some seven degrees above normal.

Environment

These are the dirtiest waterways in South Florida. Are they in your neighborhood?

Alan Halaly

West Arch Creek in North Miami, Little River in Miami and Sweeting Park in Fort Lauderdale were among the sample sites with the biggest water quality issues, according to Miami Waterkeeper's 2022 report.

A community of recently built townhomes a few hundred feet from a phosphogypsum stack in Riverview, Florida, Friday, April 14, 2023.

Environment

The price of plenty: When the storm hits

Alan Halaly

How vulnerable are the southeast’s phosphate plants, mines and mountains of waste to stronger rains and hurricanes?